East Is East (film)

Infobox Film
name = East is East


image_size =
caption = Promotional Poster
director = Damien O'Donnell
producer =
writer = Ayub Khan-Din
narrator =
starring = Om Puri
Linda Bassett
Jordan Routledge
music = Deborah Mollison
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Channel 4 Films (UK theatrical)
Miramax (US theatrical)
released = 1999
runtime = 96 mins
country = UK
language = English/Urdu
budget = £1.9m
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0166175

"East is East" is a BAFTA award-winning British comedy film released in 1999.

It is set in a mixed-race household with a Pakistani father and a British mother in Salford, in 1971. George Khan (played by Om Puri), the father, expects his family to follow his strict Pakistani ways, but his children, who were born and raised in Britain, increasingly see themselves as British and reject their father's rules on dress, food, religion, and living in general.

"East is East" is based on the play of the same name by Ayub Khan-Din. It was directed by Damien O'Donnell.

Title

The title "East is East" comes from the first line of the Rudyard Kipling Poem The Ballad Of East And West "Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet..."

ynopsis

George Khan has been married to an English woman named Ella for 25 years, and has seven children with her. The trouble begins when Nazir, their first-born son (who it later becomes clear, is gay), bails out of marrying the Pakistani girl his father has chosen for him at the last minute, leading to a bitter estrangement. Then the youngest son Sajid is discovered to be uncircumcised: the boy is horrified at his father's plans to have the ceremonial surgery carried out, and tries to resist, but in vain. Meanwhile, marriage is still on George's mind, and he accepts an introduction to Mr. Shah, who is looking for good Pakistani bridegrooms for his two ridiculously ugly daughters. Despite having seen the daughters' photographs, George promises Mr. Shah that his second and third sons, Tariq and Abdul, will marry them. Sajid overhears George's plans and they are revealed when getting pressured by Meenah, Tariq and Saleem. The movie reflects the migration of Asians into Britain in the 1970s and the social segregation that it caused between white and ethnic communities.

Realism and multicultural society

The film to some extent joins the tradition of social realist films made by Ken Loach and some other directors, in that it deals with the problems of ordinary people from the poorer sections of society, and takes their problems seriously, trying to avoid stereotyping or excessively idealizing them. It is different in that previously most such films had dealt with all-white sections of the community (miners for example). This film consciously sets out to look at mixing of culture.

Some critics have suggested that there is a certain idealisation of the community - for example the only person with racist prejudices in the film is portrayed as a completely isolated bigot, whereas the general trend is seen to be joyful mixing of cultures and rituals.

Cast

*Om Puri - George Khan
*Linda Bassett - Ella Khan
*Ian Aspinall - Nazir Khan
*Jimi Mistry - Tariq Khan
*Raji James - Abdul Khan
*Emil Marwa - Maneer Khan
*Chris Bisson - Saleem Khan
*Archie Panjabi - Meenah Khan
*Jordan Routledge - Sajid Khan

International exhibition and responses

In the UK, "East is East" was remarkably successful for a low-budget comedy, grossing over £10 million in the UK and the USA after only having a £1.9 million budget. The film also made £12,300,000 in rentals. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166175/business]

In the USA, the distributor, Miramax, used marketing that obscures the presence of Asian characters: the poster features the face of a blonde woman, with the Asian characters appearing only in small windows.

In France the film was retitled "Fish and Chips"....

Awards and nominations

The film won the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film at the BAFTA Awards. The director, Damien O'Donnell, also received a British Independent Film Awards nomination for the film. [http://www.bifa.org.uk/person.php?person=189]

External links

*imdb title|id=0166175|title=East Is East*
* [http://www.kamera.co.uk/interviews/ayubkhandin.html A quick chat with the writer - Ayub Khan-din]
* [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20000421/REVIEWS/4210302/1023 Roger Ebert review]

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
before = "Elizabeth"
after = "Billy Elliot"
title = Alexanda Korda Award for Best British Film
years = 1999