Former EastEnders actor Deepak Verma has spoken out against Eastenders for failing to portray Asian families realistically.

Deepak played Sanjay Kapoor for five years and this week called the Masood family a “two-dimensional, ill-conceived Asian family” with “stupid clothes and stupid accents.”

He told MSN:

“My character and Shobu’s character were the first real [Asian] characters on the show that were proper people. I just acted like a Hackney boy, like a barrow boy.”

He added: “We did that 15 years ago. We need to move forwards.”

He said that the BBC should follow Coronation Street’s lead.

“Jimmi Harkishin [who plays Dev Alahan] is brilliant. That’s what it should be like. He’s just a dodgy womanising sleazebag. He’s Indian but that’s got nothing to do with it. He’s just a brilliant actor. That’s where it should be going. Coronation Street has done better than EastEnders recently.”

A BBC spokeswoman said: “It’s a shame Deepak feels that way but that’s clearly his very personal opinion.

“The Masood family have proved to be hugely popular with EastEnders viewers – Nitin (Ganatra) and Nina (Wadia) won ‘Best on screen Partnership’ and Nina won ‘Best Comedy Performer’ at this year’s British Soap awards – which is a real testament to how successfully the Masoods have establised themselves in Walford.”