East Is East Screenplay

by Ayub Khan-Din

Book by Khan-Din, Ayub

192 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw snippets of the film at Christmas a few years back, but not the whole thing. As a writer myself exploring themes of heritage and working class culture in Northern England, I was interested to read the screenplay. It’s insightful and I think important to read works by people from different cultures to our own, so we see the issues they face from their perspective directly.
The foreword from the author is itself very insightful, and helped me appreciate the complexities of all the characters- and boy, are they complex! Likewise, the political contexts explored may be subtle mentions, but speak loud.

I wanted to read a screenplay to help with my own scriptwriting- though for comics rather than moving image. This was a great start. My only complaint were the errors in the text. Honestly, I’ve got to give it 5 stars- mainly for the character building and how the writer succeeds at getting us as viewers/ readers to understand that these people (and their lives) are not linear. Plus, it’s funny and tender at times, while also being sad and tense. The raw, honest depictions of life then- slurs included- is important so we don’t forget/ dismiss harmful attitudes by ignoring them.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems so ridiculous but it’s just too realistic, and that’s why it’s hilarious to me. I come from a Pakistani family and luckily I haven’t had to deal with my dad trying to marry me off 😂

George/Zaheer is an asshole but he literally embodies 80% of Pakistani fathers, even in this day and age. Absolutely loved this!