Hashim orders Zeedan The heat is on... to torch Speed Daal
Priya’s devastated as she finally takes a look at her scars
Working at Speed Daal has become a very sweaty business for Zeedan Nazir, and it has nothing to do with chapatti ovens. He’s being forced to launder money by ex-father-in-law Hashim after stealing £50k from him, and he’s trying to do it without his family suspecting a thing.
This week, Yasmeen’s grandson really feels the heat – literally – as his former relative runs out of patience and insists he torch the restaurant and claim on the insurance. But as Speed Daal goes up in smoke, are Zee’s problems only just beginning?
The thorn in Zeedan’s side is Ryan, who knows he and Hashim have ‘beef.’ At the start of the week, the lad presents Zee with a huge bag of money he has found in the food van, and demands to know where it came from.
Caught out, Zeedan admits that it’s Hashim’s dirty cash and if he doesn’t make it squeaky clean, he’ll get another pasting. He insists Alya and Yasmeen must never know, but Alya gets suspicious when she finds the pair arguing, and Ryan tells her everything.
The ballsy businesswoman lays into her brother, before squaring up to Hashim like Scrappy-doo. Her feisty words have zero effect, and before long there’s another problem to deal with when Elaine announces she wants to sell her stake in the business.
Accepting they must launder all of Hashim’s cash to get him off their backs, while also raising the money to buy Elaine out, Zeedan concludes they must up their game with the food van and make a killing at the Christmas market.
Luckily, they manage to nab the last pitch, but rival restaurateur
Debbie Webster wants to secure the spot for herself, and comes up with a plan. Soon, Speed Daal’s meal machine has gone AWOL, and Zeedan is unable to report the crime as the vehicle is full of Hashim’s dodgy dough.
Hashim is short on sympathy. He wants his money, and decides Speed Daal must be torched, callously adding that it’s either that or he’ll go and burn down Yasmeen’s house.
Before long, the restaurant is engulfed in flames, and just when Zeedan thinks things can’t get any worse, he discovers someone is inside.
Could he end up killing an innocent punter?
Six weeks after she got caught up in that maizemaze fire, poor Priya is yet to see the full damage that was inflicted on her body by the terrifying blaze.
But with the help of pal Leyla, she finally unwraps her bandages this week and takes a long, hard look in the mirror.
Normally quite the glamour puss, tottering around in teenytiny skirts and high heels, Priya is now covering up in jogging bottoms and baggy cardies and hiding away at home.
Given how fragile she’s feeling, it’s not the best time for dad Rishi to be throwing a party. But the jolly soul decides a pre-christmas get-together is in order, and when Leyla turns up, looking gorgeous, Priya’s anxieties about her own appearance rocket.
‘She’s just feeling like her world is over,’ says Fiona Wade, who plays Priya. ‘It’s as if one day everything was great, and the next, everything changed.’
Feeling an obligation to smarten up, Priya asks Leyla to help her choose an outfit. The girls head upstairs to Priya’s bedroom, and as Leyla rummages through the wardrobe, Priya admits she still hasn’t taken a look at her back.
‘Leyla’s surprised, and she’s worried about her,’ adds Fiona. ‘She wants Priya to see that it will all have started to heal.
‘She knows
Priya will have built this up, and she’s sure it’s going to be OK.’
Slowly but surely, Priya peels off her dressing. Both women are shocked to see the extent of the injuries.
‘It’s a really sad, heartbreaking moment,’ says Fiona. ‘It’s not the body she’s used to being in. She doesn’t know who she is any more.’
Still, it’s early days, and burns tend to heal very well in soaps.
Just look at Kat in Eastenders.
Outside Holdgate, Rishi’s gone all out to make an impression, but Jai is concerned, wondering where his sister has got to.
Eventually, Priya fixes herself up with Leyla’s help, and everyone praises how well she looks and what great progress she’s making.
But the businesswoman remains in agonising pain, and her anxieties return to the fore at the mention of food, when she clams up.
Having battled with anorexia and bulimia in the past, is she set to have another relapse?
IT’S A REALLY SAD, HEARTBREAKING MOMENT