EastEnders' Preeya: 'Amira wants Syed back'
EastEnders returnee Preeya Kalidas talks to Soaplife about Amira's reappearance in Walford - with Syed's daughter. Amira's back! She's got Syed's daughter, Yasmin, in tow and Christian had better watch out because she's going to cause trouble. Lots of it! Soaplife spoke to Preeya about her return to Albert Square during a break in filming at Elstree Studios. Where has Amira been all this time? "She's been held prisoner by her dad in a rather luxurious penthouse near King's Cross. She's from a community that talks a lot and being a single mum is not the done thing. Qadim tells her she's damaged goods because she's a single mother." So why is she back? "She knows that Syed has been in touch and she's coming back to face the man who broke her heart. She still loves him and she doesn't want her daughter to grow up not knowing her father." Tell us about her arrival... "She comes back and finds out that Syed and Christian are having a party at the flat. She goes over and, just as she walks in, they announce that they're getting engaged." Not what she wanted to hear! "No! A little part of her thinks she might get back together with Syed. I think she has this idealistic view that they could become a family unit." And Christian? "He's a huge threat to her plan. Amira finds out that Syed wants a divorce because he and Christian are due to get married and that's her worst nightmare." Will she let Christian be part of Yasmin's life? "Absolutely not! She doesn't want him to have a relationship with Yasmin at all. Syed's going to start feeling torn between Christian and Amira." Is she the same Amira? "No, she's a bit more manipulative. She's coming from a place where she has to fight for what she needs. She has been the victim in all of this and will try to do as much as she can to get her way." Did you know you were coming back with a baby? "Yes, but I didn't know when. It could have been one year or five. It's great to be back working with the Masoods again."
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.