Comedian Romesh Ranganathan says he had rift with brother over financial matters after dad’s death

“My dad passing away caused massive problems with me and my brother.”

• Chandrashekar Bhat
• 22 December, 2022

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By: Chandrashekar Bhat

Award-winning comedian Romesh Ranganathan said he had a rift with his younger brother over financial matters after their father’s death.

The Weakest Link presenter said the differences cropped up at a time when he was not earning much and his sibling Dinesh thought he (Romesh) was not pulling his weight.

Ranganathan who won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Entertainment Performance last year told the Griefcast podcast how he faced a “high-pressure situation” after his father Ranga died in 2011 and how the brothers reconciled after his autobiography was launched.

“My dad passing away caused massive problems with me and my brother. We had this situation where we found out our financial situation was a house of cards, and we weren’t sure what was going to happen to the house.”

The problem between the brothers surfaced around the time he left his teaching profession to become a comedian.

“I wasn’t making any money from comedy, and it was a really high-pressure situation,” he said, adding “my brother felt like I wasn’t doing enough to help out.”

He recalled having a “massive row” with Dinesh in the foyer of a theatre.

“I shouted, ‘I’m never going to forget how you’ve treated me.’ And the argument continues. That created a rift between us that took months to sort out,” the father of three said.

“Every now and again… it’s like a scar. If one of us perceives the other to be not doing the brotherly thing, we’ll fall back on that dynamic very easily,” Ranganathan said.

He said their relationship improved after he wrote his autobiography.

Ranganathan had told the Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2018: “Just today my brother texted and said, ‘I’ve just been listening to the audiobook and I am really sorry. It’s given me a new appreciation of it from your side.”

Their parents – Ranga and Shantha – had moved to the UK from Sri Lanka in the 1970s. The family faced financial difficulties after Ranga was jailed for fraud and the family had to stay in B&B.

After his release, Ranga ran a pub in East Grinstead before dying of a heart attack.