character profile: East is East

Ø Ayub khan-din wrote the story , based on his life ( seen through youngest son sajid)

Ø Damien O’Donnell directed the film

Ø Film released in 1999, but set in 70’s in Salford

Ø “East is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet” people from the east are a certain way and that’s how they’ll be

 

East is East character profile

Zahir ‘George’ Khan: Loves his family but cares more about his image and dignity than their happiness

Ella Khan: George’s wife, Irish catholic, doesn’t stand up to George

Nazir ‘Nigel’ Khan: eldest son, disowned by dad after running away from an arranged marriage for a homosexual relationship

Abdul ‘Arthur’ Khan: Second son, dislikes conflict and does not rebel against his dad until he abuses the mum

Tariq ‘tony’ Khan: Third son, Most rebellious

Maneer ‘Gandhi’ Khan: 4^th son, obeys George

Saleem ‘Picasso’ Khan: 5^th son: stands by family when dad goes too far, studying foundation art and dad thinks his doing engineering   

Meenah Khan, the sixth child and the only daughter. She also has a rebellious streak and frequently teases Sajid.

Sajid "Spaz" Khan: the sixth son and youngest child. The pain he undergoes following his late circumcision is what prompts Ella to rethink her attitude towards George. He wears a parka at all times of day and night.

Stella Moorhouse: Tariq's secret girlfriend. Their relationship becomes somewhat strained once she finds out George has planned to marry Tariq off.

Mr. Moorhouse: Stella and Earnest's grandfather. He has old-fashioned (perhaps bigoted) ideas about race and ethnicity, supporting controversial political figures like Enoch Powell, and does not know of Stella's relationship with Tariq, although he is frequently irritated by Earnest's friendship with the Khans, who openly dislike him.

Earnest "Pongo" Moorhouse: Stella's younger brother. Like Stella, he is friends with the Khans, being Sajid's best friend and harbouring an unrequited crush on Meenah. It is implied that he is somewhat weird and often abused by his grandfather.

Peggy, Stella's best friend: She appears jealous of Stella's relationship with Tariq and tries desperately to find a boyfriend, but her overweight figure repels boys. In the end, she is implied to have a romantic fling with Saleem.

Mr Shah: a devout Muslim desperately seeking Pakistani bridegrooms for his two comically unattractive daughters. Though he appears amiable on the outside, he is actually mean-spirited and rude, scoffing at Earnest Moorhouse for no reason and branding Ella as a disgrace solely for speaking back to his snobbish wife even when she insulted Ella first. On a comical note, his constant sweating is a sign of poor hygiene.

Auntie Annie: Ella's sister. She frequently helps George and Ella at the chip shop and has an amiable relationship with George, although she advises Ella not to be too soft with him.