Shreela Ghosh

Shreela Ghosh (born 25 September 1962) is a former dancer, actress and reporter, became publicly known in the United Kingdom when she was cast as Naima Jeffery in 1985, one of the original characters in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders. She has since given up performing to work as an arts executive. She was the first programme director for Arts and Heritage at the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, and went on to become the deputy director for the Institute of International Visual Arts (InIVA). She now is the Director of the Free Word Centre.

Career Ghosh began her working life as a performer, a classical (Bharatanatyam and Kathak) Indian dancer and singer. and Moving on the Edge in 1984. She also had roles in the BBC nursing drama Angels (1982) and played Minnie in the successful televised ITV mini-series, The Jewel in the Crown, in 1984. Although Ghosh was not trained as an actor in a conventional sense, her coaching in voice and the dramatic techniques she had learnt from Indian dance came into play for many of her roles.

After leaving EastEnders, Ghosh grew disillusioned with acting, partly due to the frustration of being typecast in stereotypical Asian roles.

Two years later she became the director of a national dance agency named Aditi (then the national organisation for South Asian dance), which was based in Yorkshire, before moving from arts management to arts funding by joining the Arts Council of England when the Capital Programme was rolled out in 1994. From 2003 to 2005 she served on the Fellowship Committee at NESTA (National Endowment of Science Technology & Arts), and she took a position as a Trustee of the European Cultural Foundation.

In October 2006, Ghosh worked on the launch exhibition for the Louise T Blouin Institute in west London — which boasts of galleries, studios and space for community projects and held an inaugural exhibition by renowned contemporary artist, James Turrell. She also became a board member on the Cultural Leadership Programme – a two-year £12 million initiative to promote excellence in management and leadership within the cultural sector – launched by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, in June 2006 and chaired by the M&C Saatchi founding director, David Kershaw.

In 2007, Ghosh worked as deputy director for the Institute of International Visual Arts (InIVA). The organisation focuses on introducing the public to artists from culturally diverse backgrounds, by way of exhibitions, publications, multimedia, education and research projects.

As of 2009, Ghosh has moved on to work as the Director of the Free Word Centre which works to promote literature, literacy and freedom of expression.

Personal life Although born in South Asia, Ghosh left Bengal when she was eleven and moved to England, where she has lived ever since. She has several children and has admitted to being a sufferer of post-natal depression. One of her children was born in 1985 and her character, Naima, was written out of EastEnders for a few months in order for her to have the baby. In the on-screen story, Naima walked out on Saeed after she learnt a few unsavoury things about his character.

While she was working as a Liaison Officer at the Arts Council she undertook an MA in European Cultural Policy & Administration at the University of Warwick on a part-time basis and in 2005 she began a course in History of Art at Birkbeck University.

Filmography + Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1981 Play For Today Amina Episode: "The Garland" 1982 Angels Yasmin 1984 Play For Today Amina Episode: "Moving on the Edge" 1984 The Jewel in the Crown Minnie 1985 Me and My Girl Female Doctor Episode: "Dangerous Corner" 1985–1987 EastEnders Naima Jeffery