East Is East (1999)

Directed by

Damien O'Donnell

Genre

drama film, comedy drama

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

1h 32m

Rated

R

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 225 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

In 1971 Salford, a Pakistani father tries to raise his seven children with strict traditional values while his English wife and kids push back. The story follows the family's funny and tender struggles to find their own way between two cultures.

touchinghumorouswarmbittersweetlightheartedearthyfamily-orientedculturally clashing

What happens

East Is East is a 1999 English comedy-drama film written by Ayub Khan-Din and directed by Damien O'Donnell. It is set in Salford, Lancashire (now in Greater Manchester), in 1971, in a mixed-ethnicity British household headed by Pakistani father George (Om Puri) and an English mother, Ella (Linda Bassett). East Is East is based on Khan-Din's 1996 play of the same name, which opened at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in October 1996 and Royal Court Theatre in November 1996. The title derives from the 1889 Rudyard Kipling poem "The Ballad of East and West", of which the opening line reads: "Oh East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet". The film was critically acclaimed, winning the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film at the BAFTA Awards. It was also a major box office success, grossing $30,438,635 (equivalent to $59,000,000 in 2025) worldwide and earning over ten times its £1.9 million ($3 million) budget. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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