{"id":159618,"date":"2025-11-29T12:27:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T12:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/159618\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T12:27:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T12:27:08","slug":"eastenders-nitin-ganatra-responds-to-return-calls-after-being-asked-every-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/159618\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders&#8217; Nitin Ganatra responds to return calls after being asked &#8220;every day&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"1\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\">Former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/soaps\/eastenders\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/soaps\/eastenders\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"EastEnders\" data-node-id=\"1.1.0\" class=\"body-link css-1lh7k7j emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">EastEnders<\/a> star Nitin Ganatra has responded to the fan demand for his character Masood Ahmed to return to the BBC One soap, having left Walford in 2019 after a 12-year stint (with a one-year gap).<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"4\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\">While promoting his movie Christmas Karma this month, Ganatra explained that there was a lot of interest from members of the public for the beloved postie to return.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"6\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\">&#8220;With EastEnders, everybody asks if I would return every day, I&#8217;m not even joking,&#8221; he told <a href=\"https:\/\/bangpremier.com\/story\/345\/3430242\/nitin-ganatra-open-to-eastenders-return\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/bangpremier.com\/story\/345\/3430242\/nitin-ganatra-open-to-eastenders-return\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Bang Showbiz\" data-node-id=\"6.3\" class=\"body-link css-1lh7k7j emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bang Showbiz<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"10\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\">&#8220;I&#8217;m not exaggerating \u2013 three to four times a day, by people in the street or on social media.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"12\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\">&#8220;I would never say no, I love Masood.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img draggable=\"true\" alt=\"nitin ganatra, known for playing masood ahmed in the bbc soap opera eastenders\" title=\"Nitin Ganatra, Masood Ahmed, EastEnders\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;width:100%;height:auto;\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/soaps-eastenders-nitin-ganatra-masood-ahmed.jpg\" class=\"css-0 e1g79fud0\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Nicky Johnston\/\/BBC<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"15\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\">Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a46265799\/best-film-tv-tours-2024\/\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a46265799\/best-film-tv-tours-2024\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Best film and TV tours for 2025\" data-node-id=\"15.2\" class=\"body-link css-1lh7k7j emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Best film and TV tours for 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"17\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\">When asked why he thinks that character has become such a fan-favourite, Ganatra stated:&#8221;He&#8217;s a funny character, but he also has heart.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"19\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\">&#8220;With Masood, we crossed a threshold where we were getting people from every walk of life, from every class, African people, Chinese people, saying I love you, Masood.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"21\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\">The actor joked that if he hung out with Masood, he&#8217;d give him some important advice.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"23\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\">He said: &#8220;He&#8217;s the sort of character that I would love to have a drink with but also say you gotta calm it down with women.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img draggable=\"true\" alt=\"nishin ganatra as masood in eastenders\" title=\"Nishin Ganatra as Masood in EastEnders \" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2855\" height=\"4283\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;width:100%;height:auto;\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/385976-high_res-eastenders.jpg\" class=\"css-0 e1g79fud0\"\/><\/p>\n<p>BBC<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"26\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\">Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/soaps\/eastenders\/a69573805\/eastenders-spoilers-sam-nigel-scheme-secret\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/soaps\/eastenders\/a69573805\/eastenders-spoilers-sam-nigel-scheme-secret\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"EastEnders reveals Sam&#039;s cruel Nigel scheme as she hides life-changing secret\" data-node-id=\"26.0.1\" class=\"body-link css-1lh7k7j emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">EastEnders reveals Sam&#8217;s cruel Nigel scheme as she hides life-changing secret<\/a> <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"28\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\">Ganatra&#8217;s new film Christmas Karma comes from Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha and stars The Big Bang Theory&#8217;s Kunal Nayyar, fellow former EastEnders star Danny Dyer, Downton Abbey&#8217;s Hugh Bonneville, Eva Longoria, Billy Porter and Boy George.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"30\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/movies\/a69438079\/christmas-karma-reviews\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/movies\/a69438079\/christmas-karma-reviews\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Unfortunately, critics thought\" data-node-id=\"30.0\" class=\"body-link css-1lh7k7j emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Unfortunately, critics thought<\/a> this was one present you&#8217;d want to throw straight on the fire, giving it some absolutely savage reviews.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"32\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\">Christmas Karma is out in cinemas now. EastEnders airs on Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast. <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"34\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/soaps\/eastenders\/\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"http:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/soaps\/eastenders\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage\" data-node-id=\"34.0\" class=\"body-link css-1lh7k7j emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"37\" class=\"css-18ljdn6 emevuu60\">The new edition of Living Legends is here! <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hearstmagazines.co.uk\/special-editions-subscriptions-lvgwitchesariana\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.hearstmagazines.co.uk\/special-editions-subscriptions-lvgwitchesariana\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Buy Ariana &amp; Witches in newsagents or online\" data-node-id=\"37.3\" class=\"body-link css-1lh7k7j emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Buy Ariana &amp; Witches in newsagents or online<\/a>, priced at just \u00a38.99<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former EastEnders star Nitin Ganatra has responded to the fan demand for his character Masood Ahmed to return&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2115,105176,2117,156,2116,111,139,69,105175,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-159618","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-content-type-news","9":"tag-contentid-0433de44-9550-44e3-ac46-ac05d4ddaef5","10":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-locale-gb","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-shorttitle-eastenders-nitin-ganatra-on-if-hed-return","17":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}