UNITED KINGDOM: The Khans from Salford are back on the red carpet for "West Is West", the sequel to "East Is East"

Record ID: 219240

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: The Khans from Salford are back on the red carpet for "West Is West", the sequel to "East Is East"
  • Date: 20th October 2010
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 19, 2010) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS LESLEY NICOL, SAYING: "Zita who plays Nana Mouskouri, her dad was a kebab maker. So, I went to his house and had a kebab-rolling lesson, and when it came to the film, all I was doing was that. So, I didn't show you my full skill, but I can do it, yes."
  • Embargoed: 4th November 2010 12:00
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  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVA2LHP67HOH2I9OHZT85E0T3LCY
  • Story Text: The Khans, played by Om Puri and Linda Bassett make a comeback in 'West In West', the sequel to 'East Is East', and brought part of their brood to the red carpet on Tuesday (October 19) in London's Leicester Square.
    Puri (George Khan) and Bassett (Ella Khan) were joined by co-stars Lesley Nicol (Auntie Annie), Emil Marwa (Maneer Khan), Jimi Mistry (Tariq Khan), Ila Arun (Basheera Khan), Zita Sattar (Neelam Haqq), and newcomer Aquib Khan who portrays teen tearaway son Sajid -- minus the Parker.
    The sequel is directed by Andy de Emmony, who replaces the original 'East is East' director, Damien O'Donnell, and joined the cast on the night of the gala screening.
    Based on writer Ayub Khan-Din's semi-autobiographical story of a mixed-race family in Salford in the early 1970s, the sequel takes the Khans to rural Pakistan in a coming-of-age journey of both 13-year-old Sajid and his father, 60-year-old George.
    The story picks up in Salford, Greater Manchester, North of England in 1976. The now diminished, but still claustrophobically cohesive and desperately dysfunctional Khan family continues to struggle for survival running their chippy. Sajid, the youngest Khan, and the runt of the litter, is in deep pubescent crisis under heavy assault from his father's tyrannical insistence on Pakistani traditions, and from the fierce racist bullies at school.
    Feeling isolated and bored, Sajid bunks off school and shoplifts to get his kicks, resulting in his arrest and some considerable embarrassment for the family. In a last ditch attempt to make a good Muslim out of him, George accompanies his son to the Punjab, Pakistan to live with Mrs Khan No 1, Basheera, mother of his two grown-up daughters that George abandoned 30 years earlier.
    Resolved to teach Sajid a lesson, George finds the tables are turned on him when he comes face to face with his own transgressions, and realises that he may have more to learn than his son.
    When the pair do not return home and the money disappears from the bank, Ella (Mrs Khan No 2), accompanied by good friend Auntie Annie, arrives in Pakistan to sort out the mess, both past and present.
    Puri explains what lessons George learns in this latest film.
    "He visits his roots after 30 years, and what he sees there are his family and his two daughters, is quite devastated in the conditions they are. He goes through all kind of emotions, his guilt, his embarrassment, his awkwardness," said Puri.
    Bassett explains that travelling to Pakistan and meeting Basheera allows Ella to understand that they are not the enemy that she feels they are subsidising, and how much emotion she felt playing those scenes.
    "We meet and find each other's truth. I won't say we find we're the same because we're so not, but I think it does Ella, gives her some growth to understand what's happened, what he's felt behind," said Bassett.
    Arun agrees with Bassett, and the two women broke down in tears when they filmed their scenes together.
    "I was also thinking that I will not meet her before the scene comes, you know, so we came out with a lot of sincere emotions when that particular scene was shot," said Arun.
    When asked whether she can make a mean kebab, Nicol admitted getting a lesson from Sattar's real-life father -- Sattar plays the Nana Mouskouri lookalike in the film and Maneer's new love interest and bride-to-be.
    "I didn't show you my full skill, but I can do it, yes," said Nicol.
    Puri and young actor Khan admitted bonding together while filming in the Punjab in India, with Puri keeping in character when Khan messed around.
    "If I used to mess around, he'd be like, 'Shut up, bastard'. So, it was fantastic there. It was just like living the real George, but obviously less cranky," said Khan.
    On-screen couple Marwa and Sattar said that far from being traditional and arranged, their characters have a modern perspective on Pakistani marriage.
    "We sort of choose each other, don't we, without the parents being involved, which is nice," said Sattar to Marwa.
    Co-star Mistry, who is currently involved in the BBC's dance programme, 'Strictly Come Dancing', and came along with his dancer partner, Flavia Cacace, is barely in the new film as character Tariq, but is still pleased to make a brief appearance.
    "I think people kind of generally wanted to know what happened to him and you see this little glimpse of what he's been up to," said Mistry.
    The actor said he hopes for a larger part in the suspected third film.
    Asked how he would describe 'West Is West', given 'East Is East' was described as a 'trail blazer', de Emmony said the first film captured the British-Asian culture, but the second film takes it further.
    "By taking it to Pakistan, I think it's got a different leg of that story, and I think the British-Asian culture, which the first film dealt with so brilliantly, and was a groundbreaking film, by taking that family abroad now, we get a whole, another voice to that journey," said de Emmony.
    'East Is East' won a BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film in 2000, with nominations for Best Performance for Puri and Bassett, Best Film for producer Leslee Udwin and Best Screenplay - Adapted for Khan-Din.
    'East Is East' grossed over four million U.S Dollars in the States, and over 10 million British Pounds in 2000.
    'West Is West' is released in cinemas across the UK in February 2010.
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