‘A Suitable Boy’ recap: What happened in Episode 1?

The BBC’s adaptation of A Suitable Boy premiered in the UK tonight.

First published in 1993, Vikram Seth’s modern classic tells the story of a young woman’s search for love and identity in India during the 1950s.

Award-winning screenwriter Andrew Davies, who recently wrote ITV’s Sanditon, has adapted the book.

The cast is led by Bollywood star Ishaan Khatter (Beyond the Clouds, Dhadak) and Indian film actress Tabu (Life of Pi, Andhadhun), alongside newcomer Tanya Maniktala.

Here’s a plot recap for the first episode of A Suitable Boy, which aired on BBC One at 9pm on Sunday 26th July 2020:

1951. In a newly independent India, passionate literature student Lata Mehra (Tanya Maniktala) is looking towards her own future.

Her mother Rupa (Mahira Kakkar) has successfully arranged the marriage of her eldest daughter Savita (Rasika Dugal) to Pran Kapoor (Gagandeep Singh Riar), a university lecturer.

Now Rupa has her sights set on her spirited younger daughter but Lata wants to make her own way in the world.

She isn’t interested in romance but her resolve is challenged when she starts to fall for a mysterious fellow student, Kabir Durrani (Danesh Razvi).

Pran’s brother is the charming but directionless Maan Kapoor (Ishaan Khatter), who becomes bewitched by the singer and courtesan, Saeeda Bai (Tabu).

Maan is a worry to his father, the progressive Revenue Minister Mahesh Kapoor (Ram Kapoor), who can’t let anything unbalance his political career at a crucial moment.

As religious tensions mount between Muslims and Hindus in the wake of Partition, India’s first national democratic election approaches.

Vikram Seth’s novel A Suitable Boy is available on Amazon.