The deal about East and West

In conversation with East Is East and West Is West scriptwriter Ayub Khan-Din

The deal about East and West

In conversation with East Is East and West Is West scriptwriter Ayub Khan-Din

British-Pakistani actor-playwright Ayub Khan-Din, who wrote the scripts for Om Puri-starrer East Is East, and the recently released sequel West Is West spoke to Sunday Mid DAY on what it was like scripting the sequel, and visiting his father's first wife in Pakistan as a pre-teen.

West Is West is a sequel to your very successful East Is East. What is your take on sequels?
Sequels should take the characters and the story further. It shouldn't just be a rehash of the earlier film.

The sequel comes 12u00a0 years after the original. How difficult was it for you to pick up the thread?
The characters have been with me for so long that it wasn't very difficult to continue with their journey. I wrote the original play of East Is East back when I was in drama school in 1982. Also, because it is an autobiographical piece, the characters are an integral part of my life.

Both films are about my life growing up with a Pakistani father and an English mother, along with nine other siblings.

My father left a small village in Kashmir, India in 1930. He settled in Manchester in the late '40s, married my mother and they had a fish and chips shop. The problems faced by the Khan children and the events they go through in both films are things which happened to us as children. As a 12 year old I was sent to Pakistan for being an unruly pre-teen, like Sajid in the film. I arrived in Islamabad, angry and resentful, thinking I would give my relatives hell.

I did that for three or four months. But being confronted with my father's previous existence, his first wife and daughters, gave me another perspective on the man in England.

West Is West couldn't be shot in Pakistan where it is set. Any regrets?
No. To make a film it has to be insured. No insurance company would insure the film if it was shot in Pakistan. It was unfortunate but simple. But Punjab is Punjab, India or Pakistan! The Punjabis are equally hospitable to strangers in their midst.

Not many know that you also acted in a film by Mani Kaul with Shah Rukh Khan. How was that experience?
I worked with Mani Kaul some years ago. It was one of the most exciting acting experiences I've had. He would sometimes sing in Drupad raag to explain the scene. He'd say, 'When you walk in the room you are Sa Re Ga Sa. Then, when you see her talking to him you are Ga Ma Pa!' Unusual but effective!

It was wonderful working with Shah Rukh Khan. I don't speak Hindi and was learning all my lines phonetically. Sometimes, it was impossible to learn the lines and cues because there were so many dialogues. So Shah Rukh and I worked out a system, where he would nudge me or tap me on the leg or look at me, if he was across the room, at the appropriate moment so I'd know when to start speaking.

I haven't met him in a while, although we bump into each other now and again at various functions in London.