"Helen Fielding modelled grumpy shop keeper on real-life grumpy shop keeper"

From The Daily Mail:

Bridget Jones fans indifferent to learn that Mark Darcy is dead have a new anti-hero in the latest instalment: taciturn corner shop owner Mr Patel.

And, even better for those who prefer their supporting characters to be two-dimensional, Mr Patel, from whom Bridget Jones buys a pint of milk and a packet of Marlboro Lights in the third Bridget Jones' Diary, is based on a real-life shop keeper who runs Fags'N'Mags on the high street near her London home.

In a move destined to embarrass Mr Patel's family but give the small, local retailer worldwide kudos, the bit part player in Mad About The Boy shares the same name as his real-life counterpart.

Both the real and the fictional shop keepers are married with several adult children and both, says the author, are of Indian appearance.