East Is East (1999)

In early 1970s England, a Pakistani father finds the authority he has previously maintained challenged by his increasingly Anglicized children.

Director:

Damien O'Donnell

Writers:

Ayub Khan-Din (play), Ayub Khan-Din (screenplay)

Stars:

Om Puri, Linda Bassett, Jordan Routledge

Nominated for 4 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 16 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Om Puri	...	George Khan
Linda Bassett	...	Ella Khan
Jordan Routledge	...	Sajid Khan
Archie Panjabi	...	Meenah Khan
Emil Marwa	...	Maneer Khan
Chris Bisson	...	Saleem Khan
Jimi Mistry	...	Tariq Khan
Raji James	...	Abdul Khan
Ian Aspinall	...	Nazir Khan
Lesley Nicol	...	Auntie Annie
Emma Rydal	...	Stella Moorhouse
Ruth Jones	...	Peggy
Ben Keaton	...	Priest
Kriss Dosanjh	...	Poppa Khalid
John Bardon	...	Mr. Moorhouse

Storyline

In 1971 Salford fish-and-chip shop owner George Khan expects his family to follow his strict Pakistani Muslim ways. But his children, with an English mother and having been born and brought up in Britain, increasingly see themselves as British and start to reject their father's rules on dress, food, religion, and living in general.

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Plot Keywords:

pakistani | muslim | england | 1970s | mixed marriage | 

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Taglines:

A comedy with attitude about finding your way in a home with no latitude.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Atalanta Filmes (Portugal)

Country:

UK

Language:

English Urdu

Release Date:

2 June 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Kelet az Kelet

Filming Locations:

Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£1,900,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£435,627 (United Kingdom), 7 November 1999, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$53,569, 16 April 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,170,647, 10 September 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

FilmFour,British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC),Assassin Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Khan house doesn't have its own bathroom, which was perfectly normal for the average terraced house of the time. A tin bath (as shown in the initial scenes) for washing with would be shared in a sitting room or bedroom between the family while the only toilet was an outhouse in the back garden.

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Goofs

The lamp posts are too new for 1971. It is possible that most side streets were still gas lit with ornate cast iron poles or with smaller concrete posts.

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Quotes

[Moorhouse and Earnest are distributing leaflets of Enoch Powell as George passes by]
Mr. Moorhouse: 'Ere, look, see? There's one of'em now. Got his bags packed for his way home, heh.
Earnest Moorhouse: [Respectfully] Salam Alekom, Mr. Khan.
Mr. Moorhouse: [Slaps Earnest over the head] Shut up, you little bastard!

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Crazy Credits

Special thanks to ... and all the residents of Openshaw.

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Connections

Referenced in Zoe Ball on ...: Sunday 12 (2018)

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Soundtracks

Moving
(1997)
Written by Gaz Coombes, Michael Quinn, Daniel Goffey & Rob Coombes (as Robert Joseph Coombes)
Used by permission of EMI Music Publishing Ltd.
Performed by Supergrass
Licensed courtesy of EMI Records Ltd.

User Reviews

East is East

„East is East" is a refreshing inventive family story. Directly the first scene where two different religions and also two opposing views of life (namely the children's and the view of their conservative father) clash together. With the funny way of telling which is typical for the whole film, nevertheless the problems are shown in their graveness. The cast represents every member of this Pakistani family as an individual but the good relations between the siblings and their mother is shown as realistic as the problematic relation between them and their incorrigible father. The viewer gets the impression of a different culture but he will recognize a lot of aspects of his own family life, too, what was aimed by the makers who brought in the personal experiences. All in all, this movie is an evening-filling enrichment for the viewer.