Journey from the East that has come full circle

A decade after his star turn in East Is East, Indian actor Om Puri has reprised his role as the overbearing George 'Genghis' Khan. He talks to DONALD CLARKE

CAN IT REALLY be 10 years since we encountered East Is East? Damien O'Donnell's debut feature, a tale of the Pakistani community in 1970s Salford, was a surprise hit at the turn of the decade. The film buzzed with chuckles, flares and glittery nostalgia. But it was also about something. Played with dignity and grace by Om Puri, an Indian actor of formidable distinction, George Khan, the pater familias, exemplifies a common dilemma for first- generation immigrants. How does one keep a family together when the younger members are becoming seduced by the new country?

George was a bit of a bully. He could tend towards violence. So it is to Puri's credit that, as George returns for West Is West, a tardy sequel, we feel surprisingly warm towards the old geezer. Why is that? He's a terrible fellow really. Isn't he?

"I will not agree with you totally," says Puri. "In East Is East, you have a man whose eldest son is getting married. And the son embarrasses him in front of the community. The shame frightens him. Remember, the Asian community was then not so secure as they are now. You see some explanation why he dominated the family there."

Now 60, Puri was born in northern India and, in a career lasting three-and-a-half decades, has taken jobs all over the world. East Is Eastwas, however, a particularly significant experience for him. The film opened up the Pakistani experience for many white viewers. It also allowed Puri to study the dynamics of the immigrant experience.

The new film, which plays tomorrow at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, finds George and his son travelling back to Pakistan. In his journeys, the older man comes to assess how England has changed him. The viewer is also invited to ponder how attitudes within the Pakistani community are evolving.

“It was a very different time then,” Puri says. “The younger people are so much more integrated now. Also, the new people coming in are much more educated. In past times, it was mainly labourers. But there are now more professionals.” He makes it sound not unlike the recent Irish immigrant experience.

Speaking of domestic matters, what did he make of Damien O'Donnell? The Irishman was an interesting choice for the project. Neither English nor Pakistani, he brought an outsider's eye to East Is East. ( O'Donnell is not on board for West Is West.) "I thought he was wonderful, very modest and humble. Right at the beginning, he said 'I am dealing with something not close to my own culture. If I make mistakes, feel free to point out to me.' "

Om does not come from a theatrical background. His father was in the British army and greatly valued education. One imagines, therefore, that he must have been appalled when his son threatened to run away and join the theatre.

There are few less secure trades.“Oh, no. He never objected,” Puri says. “The important thing was that I was always very good at my studies. So that made him happy.”

For many years Puri resisted getting swept away by the Bollywood machine. Eager to avoid all that hurly-burly, he stuck to art pictures and movies “with social significance”. Early on his career, he got to work with Satajit Ray, the greatest of Indian directors, and he remembers the great man improvising ingeniously while shooting in torrential rainstorms.

Eventually, however, he gave in to the lure of Bollywood and now admits that he enjoys the hustle, bustle, cheesy tunes and creative mayhem.“Oh yes it’s great fun,” he says. “These things are not about messages. They are just about entertainment,

and that’s a real pleasure. The organisation has improved. When I started you’d have these big stars who would keep 300 people waiting for hours. That has all improved.”

Om has also developed a busy career in British and American cinema. Yet he admits that Hollywood is still not comfortable with casting Indian actors. Unlike the British, the Americans do not quite regard the Indian community as “mainstream”. Still, he did manage to get a role opposite a lycanthropic Jack Nicholson in Mike Nichols’s Wolf.

“Despite what people might say, Jack is definitely not mad,” he says. “He is wonderful. I remember asking where I could smoke and there was just one corner for the ‘bad boys’. That was Jack’s spot. After the first rehearsal, he turned and said: ‘We’ll have a smoke.’ Smoking with Jack Nicholson in the bad boys’ corner? There’s an achievement worth celebrating.

West Is Westplays at the Jameson Dublin Film Festival tomorrow. It is on limited release from February 25th.