’I accept a few films purely for money’

Om Puri is back as the domineering father, George Khan, in West Is West, the sequel to his acclaimed 1999 comedy, East Is East. While George Khan has a tumultuous relationship with his son in both films, Puri tells us how he straddles fatherhood and friendship with his own son, 11-year-old Ishaan, and why a cultural education is as important as an academic one

West Is West is releasing 12 years after the original. Isn't it late?
Yes. But we were not ready with the script. Der aaye durust aaye!

Veteran actor Om Puri returns in the sequel to East is East

Was it easy to slip into the role of George Khan once again?
To refresh my memory (I had a peculiar accent in the film) I took a look at East Is East again. I hadn't copied anyone for the accent; I had created it. Unlike his English wife, George Khan is not a literate person. He has picked up English from her. He imitates her, so Sunday becomes Sonday. But he goofs up with the grammar.

In the film you take your son to Pakistan. Did you shoot there?
The film is set in Pakistan but we shot near Chandigarh. I have been to Karachi and am looking forward to visiting Lahore. Lahore falls in Western Punjab and was a centre for film production before the Partition. It was also an education centre and hosted a lot of cultural activities. The food is also supposed to be really good. People speak in Punjabi, which incidentally, is my mother tongue.

In the film, you play a father who insists that his son follow traditions. In real life, do you insist that your son adhere to the same?
Yes and no. I would want my kids to accept the best of every culture and discard the negative. The same holds true for his approach to Indian culture. George Khan is a traditional Muslim, and he expects his son to pray. There is nothing wrong with that; in the West, people also go to church and mosques to pray.
But he objects to his son listening to western music or dropping into a pub. One should be tolerant of another culture. His sons are South Asians born in England after all.
Education widens your horizons, it makes you a liberal person, though not in all cases. Earlier, terrorists were uneducated people but today you have doctors, engineers and architects drawn to terrorism. Cultural education is very important.

Anything you learnt from your father that you have passed on to your son?
Be a nice human being, don't be violent. I ask him to wake up early which he does since he has to go to school. But on weekends, he sleeps in late. I tell him to eat green vegetables, even though he loves non-vegetarian food. I ask him to keep away from violent video games but he sensibly reasons, 'Baba, this is just a film'.
When he was really young, I would buy him educational toys from London's Early Learning Center. But no toy guns. Yet, once, when I told him that he was getting late for school, he replied smartly, 'Goli maaro school ko'. I may not have given him a toy gun but he is subject to outside influences and other kids.
Nowadays, we discuss social issues because he has started reading the newspapers. I did not read a newspaper regularly even when I was in college!

You have been acting since 1976. Do you ever do a film just for the money?
I find most films interesting but, honestly, there are a few films which I accept purely for the money. However, even in those films, I try to enjoy myself and do good work. If the film doesn't do well, people still like my performance.

Bollywood News Service

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