When curry met fish and chips

>> Damien O'Donnell directs East Is East, the latest British masala comedy-melodrama

by MATTHEW HAYS

For director Damien O'Donnell, detail topped his priority list while making East Is East. "There was a scene toward the end of the film," he recalls, "in which an axe used for killing chickens was shown. Then someone pointed out that the axe was wrong, one that never would be used to kill chickens by this group of people. We cut the scene."

It was O'Donnell's feature directorial debut, something he certainly didn't want to take lightly. He'd been approached about the project, but was uncertain his white Brit background would lend itself to telling the story of East Is East, an autobiographical work based on the play by Ayub Khan-Din. The story involves a mixed-race family (pop, played by Om Puri, is a Pakistani immigrant, mom's a Manchester native) trying desperately to negotiate their life choices, which are often caught between British and Pakistani loyalties. Much of the film is told through the naive and innocent eyes of one of the youngest in the clan, played by Jordan Routledge.

O'Donnell acknowledges feeling daunted by the potential to seem utterly out of the loop. Not only was the ethnic culture at the film's centre not his own, but East Is East also called for period treatment, set in the '70s. O'Donnell also knew there would be solid points of comparison: Britain boasts a proud history of east-meets-west movies, in particular My Beautiful Laundrette, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid and My Son the Fanatic.

"I didn't even want to take this project when I was first offered it. I had a panic attack. I had no appreciation whatsoever of what I was getting into. I thought about it. Alan Parker did The Commitments. Ang Lee did The Ice Storm. Those were good movies about cultures directed by people from outside.

"But I really couldn't get past it. I faxed off a letter to the producers, saying no to the project. Then I went to the pub and had a few pints. Then suddenly it hit me, that no, I should do it. I went back to the office and found that the fax hadn't gone through for some reason. So that was the sign that I should stick with it.

"And that's what I recommend: if you're upset, go to the pub and have a few drinks and calm down."

The bungled fax appears to have paid off. East Is East has won a bevy of international film awards, was invited to the prestigious Director's Fortnight series at Cannes last year and later racked up six BAFTA nominations in the film's native Britain.

"When you make a film, all you see are the problems when you watch it," O'Donnell says. "But now that the film's been so well received, I think about that less." :

East Is East opens Friday, April 21