All language subtitles for Interviews-eng

That's the fascinating thing

about...about their relationship,
George and Ella.

Because at one time, he's critical of Ella,

and on the other hand,
he goes around telling everybody

how wonderful this woman is, you know.

So these are the contradictions
he lives with.

He sticks to these...

these...you know, traditional values

and he's not grown out of those.

He feels what he thinks right
for the kids is right.

I don't think Damien needs help,

he is a talented young man

and he's very, very promising.

He's made some documentaries
and short films.

I happened to see one of that,
35 A Side,

which I think is a brilliant film.

And he's picked up awards all over.

And he's very open.

We had one week rehearsals with him

and you know, very relaxed.

You know, it's almost like Chaplin films,
making you laugh,

and yet dealing with serious situations.

Ah, what can...
She's a great woman, I think.

She's, erm...

Yeah, I think she's great, she's brave

and she's...clever,

and she loves her kids
and she loves her husband.

She's got seven kids

and...erm...and a husband
who's got problems

because of the community they live in.

So, life isn't... Plus they're running a...
They've brought up seven kids

and they're running their own business.

It's not an easy life.

I was attracted to the script
because it made me laugh,

because it's so funny,

and you know, you just laugh out loud
the first time you read it.

So, I think it's great from that point of view.

Of any two parents,
there's usually one who's really strict

and tries to control everybody,

There's, "If you behave like this it'll be OK."

And one is really flexible
and says "As long as you're happy”

and they row to whatever degree.

Yes, I think that's...
Everyone will recognise that.

His name's Sajid Khan

and he keeps himself
to himself in his parka.

When people are arguing

he likes to go and hide in the coal shed...

in his coat.

Me auntie saw it on Richard And Judy.

I think it were Ayub's brother that were on it

or Ayub himself,

who asked if there's anybody...like me

and I'd just got an award for best boy
in year seven for drama

and I went to parent's evening that night

and decided to send off
but we didn't think owt of it.

Yeah, I thought it'd be easy

but it weren't as easy
as I thought it would be.

Cos it looks easy when you watch a film

but then, when it comes to making one,
it's different.

Right, I'm playing Maneer,

and he's like the middle brother,
he's in between.

He's 19, so he's not the youngest.

The oldest is...
Let's see, the oldest is 25

and the youngest is 12,

so I'm the middle religious brother.

They call me Gandhi
I wear this religious cap, dopi,

and I wear sandals.

And basically, I follow my dad's side.

I'm the only one of the brothers
who follows what my dad stands for

and what my dad says.

I think the story it tells in the film is good

it gives like,
everyone is an individual character

and has a different say,

has a different standpoint in society
if you like, you know,

which is true.

Which is true, especially in
a big family like seven of us.

The weather is...

The weather's been great.
No, it's been....

It's been interesting,
you don't realise,

or I never realised how much
the weather does affect...

how it can affect,
like you start filming

and there's rain in the background,

so if you're gonna do any pickup shots
for that scene,

it's gotta be raining,
it's gotta be the same light.

If it's too sunny, you know,
you can't do it.

Gotta wait till the sun goes in

or you try covering the sun
and if that doesn't work,

you have to wait for this, wait for that,

so in that sense,
there is quite a bit of waiting around.

But they've cast it so well,
we all get on. It's like a family in a sense,

so we hang about, play games

and just hang about together really.

So, it's fun, it's not boring waiting around.

OK, I play Saleem, I'm mid-family.

I come between Maneer and Tariq.

Saleem's the artist, sort of a bit rebellious.

He's doing art, foundation art at university,

but me dad thinks I'm doing engineering,

a Pakistani father would never allow
his son to do art.

I mean, he's not really...
Dad isn't a demon,

he's just standing for his principles,

the same way that Mum
and all the characters do.

I suppose there is
a bit of a united front against him,

rightly or wrongly so, I don't know.

No, it's not an Asian film.
It's a film about a family, ultimately.

Of course
1 did the play previous to this

and I hope the audience
has the same response,

in that everybody
that watches it can tune in

and empathise
with one of the characters

and I think that the issues
we deal with are universal.

I think it would be horrible
to bracket it as an Asian film

for an Asian market.

You've caught me just after a bedroom
scene, these are my pyjamas,

the Bridges of London pyjama top,

which I'm particularly proud of.

Well, it's set in '71
and we're quite a poor family,

you'll find a lot of our clothes
are hand-me-downs from the '60s.

So they're not quite as funky and stylish.

We don't walk around
with the big afros and the big chains,

we can't afford it
and it hasn't yet happened.

So, I think if you're looking for
'70s glamour and flares,

the film sort of just comes before that

and you might be disappointed
if that's what you want to see.

The character I play is called Tariq,

who is the third eldest, so that's including...

Nazir's the oldest,
then it's Abdul, then it's Tariq.

He's... Tariq himself is a bit of a rebel.

And...he kind of fights against
the kind of restrictions

that his parents or his family
want him to do,

and he fights against that.

He rebels against that.

And he's constantly trying to search
for his own identity.

That's what he's constantly trying to do.

I don't think he knows quite where he fits in,

which basically results in him
doing the complete opposite

to what his parents want him to do,

which I think is what a lot of young boys...
go through, you know.

The beauty of it is
that we all get on so well.

I think we do come across
to a lot of the...

I think the crew have been
kind of like struck dumb

by the kind of feeling that's going on
between the cast,

because we do get on just like a family,

we treat each other like brothers and
sisters, you know, we do have fun.

1 go, "Sajid!" you know,
"Get that parka off, get over here!"

It's just part of the whole feeling
we're trying to create.

I think... A couple of the other members
of the cast

are, you know, kind of a bit jealous.

I don't know if jealous is the word,

but you know, they're
obviously wearing cords and everything

and I get the leather jacket.

Abdul is the character. Abdul Khan.

He's the second oldest brother
in the family.

Second oldest child, in fact.

And after what happens
at the beginning with Nazir,

Abdul is kind of left, effectively,
the oldest brother in the household.

And he sort of takes on the role
of responsible brother.

There's stuff that goes on in the script,

and there's stuff that goes on off-set
between us as individuals,

that is so like my family.

I'm from a family of three
and I'm the youngest of three,

s0, I just remember when I was growing up,

whatever the argument was,
it was always two against one.

Either me and my brother against me sister
or me and me sister against me brother

or me brother and me sister against me,
and it's the same in this.

it's just that sort of thing
about how families knit together.

Ayub's written a fantastic script.

Talking more seriously about identity
and all that but it's also incredibly funny.

You know, the sort of defensive humour

that the kids and the parents use,
especially Mam,

Linda who plays Ella.

I mean, the funny touches in there
are just incredible.

Her relationship with Auntie Annie,
played by Lesley Nichol, is just astounding,

they have their little banter.

Even though this tragic thing
is going on in their life,

they have this room to laugh and to joke.

In fact, they probably need to do that
in order to survive.

I think that's for all of us,
there's that level of...

it gets to a point
where you have to laugh,

you can't cry,
so you have to laugh to keep going.

It's a good script.

And even though it's about Asians,

and I don't have a huge experience
of Asian culture,

it was the family aspect of it.

I have a large family.
Well, I come from a large family,

so I could understand
the dynamics of that family,

and that's what engaged me.

It's set it the ‘70s but it's not about the ‘70s.

It's its own story and it's universal.

It could really take place in any time.

The reason it's set in the '70s
is because it's partly autobiographical

on the part of Ayub.

And, you know,

the story is of things that happened
in his life when he was growing up

and he grew up
in the late '60s and early ‘70s,

so, might as well set it there.

This film's just a film for its own sake.

The design, the style and the setting
aren't in any way intrusive.

In fact, they're very much
in the background of the film,

the story's quite strong.

The story could take place at any time
and it just happens to be 1971,

but we don't make a big deal about it.

The biggest pleasure for me in the film
was working with the cast.

And it's great, they all draw
such identifiable characters.

One of our fears was that people
would get lost amongst the family.

It's not a film about Pakistanis
for Pakistanis,

it's a film about families
for families, or people who've been.

Most people have been
in a family at some stage.

What making this film did for me was
start making me seriously think

about writing a script about my own family.

Maybe doing a feature
about my own family life

I just realised
there's such great stories there.

and Ayub's story's fantastic and it's real

and it kind of inspired me to go back
and look at my own...

childhood and growing up in my family
and their idiosyncrasies.

Well, it's basically...
Well, it's basically semi-autobiographical,

erm...about my kind of upbringing in
an Anglo/Pakistani household in the '70s.

I saw Damien's short and his visual style,

we just thought would work perfectly
with East Is East

and luckily we were able
to get him and he liked the script.

At the end of the day, I think
the film contains a great deal of humanity.

It's got some wonderful characters in there,

characters you really wanna know about
and see what happens to them.

It was very liberating
to be able to go from the play

and then just kind of put the play to one side

and try to retain the basic
kind of erm... scenes.

You know, put the play down

and just remember the images
that the play gave you

and I started from those images
and then just built on that.

And again, because we're using film,

you can, you know
when we talk about Bradford,

we can go to Bradford,
we can see the life in Bradford,

we can go to the mosque

and see how the Khan family behave
at the mosque

and how they interact
with the other Pakistani kids

or how they don't interact with them.

So, in that case, in that sense,
it was a very liberating experience.

At the end of the day it is about....
rebellion and parental authority

and that is the most universal theme
I can think of.

And of course,
what also hugely attracted me to it

was that it is incredibly funny

and incredibly moving

erm...and all in the same breath,
you know,

erm...and pieces like that are very rare.

Well, I was looking for and found,

someone
with an extraordinary visual vitality,

and a quirky, humorous, distinctive vision

in terms of, you know, ability
to make pictures that were heightened,

erm...and Damien does that
absolutely brilliantly.

There was a television item
on the other day

referring to October in Manchester,
in particular,

they picked out Manchester and said,

this was the rainiest, worst conditions
in meteorological history

and we were there for all of two and a half
very wet and difficult weeks,

but we've got through.