Ayub Khan Din (born 1961) is a British writer and actor. He wrote the BAFTA, BIFA and London Film Critics Circle award-winning film '' East Is East'' (1999), adapted from his 1996

Olivier Olivier is the French form of the given name Oliver. It may refer to: * Olivier (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Olivier (surname), a list of people * Château Olivier, a Bordeaux winery * Olivier, Louisiana, a rural po ...

-nominated play of the same name. His 2008 comedy play '' Rafta, Rafta...'' won the

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

. He went on to write the film sequel '' West Is West'' (2010). On television, he created the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

comedy-drama ''

Ackley Bridge ''Ackley Bridge'' is a British comedy-drama series set in a multicultural academy school of the same name. The series is filmed in Halifax, West Yorkshire and it began broadcasting on Channel 4 on 7 June 2017. In the fourth series, ''Ackley B ...

'' (2017–present). As an actor, Khan Din's roles include Sammy in

Hanif Kureishi Hanif Kureishi (born 5 December 1954) is a British playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker and novelist of South Asian and English descent. In 2008, ''The Times'' included Kureishi in its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Early l ...

's film '' Sammy and Rosie Get Laid'' in (1987), Hanif Ruparell in the soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Orig ...

'' (1992–1993), and Ravi Shah in the ITV series ''

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It re ...

'' (1996).

Early life

Khan Din was born to a Pakistani father and English mother and lived in Salford. Upon leaving school, he studied drama at the

Salford College of Technology Pendleton Sixth Form College is a further education college in Salford, Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten met ...

. When he completed his course in 1982, he then left to study acting at

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. The Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting and musical theatre, as well as production ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

graduating in 1984. He then pursued a career in acting, initially in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

Personal life

Ayub Khan Din is married to British-Nigerian actress Buki Armstrong. The couple have two daughters and currently reside in

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

."East is East in Brum"
(Jan 2015) ''What's On'', p.6 Khan Din's brothers are Lee Din and Rasshied Din. Lee is a make-up artist in the TV industry and tutor at the School of Make-up in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, and Rassheid is, among other things, the designer of the

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

, memorial centre at

Althorp Althorp (popularly pronounced ) is a Grade I listed stately home and estate in the civil parish of Althorp, in West Northamptonshire, England of about . By road it is about northwest of the county town of Northampton and about northwest of ...

Career

As an actor, Khan Din appeared in some 20 British films and TV series in the late 1980s and he was cast in the co-lead role of Sammy in

's film '' Sammy and Rosie Get Laid'' (1987) with

Frances Barber Frances Barber (née Brookes, born 13 May 1958) is an English actress. She received Olivier Award nominations for her work in the plays '' Camille'' (1985), and ''Uncle Vanya'' (1997). Her film appearances include three collaborations with Gar ...

. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, he worked extensively on the

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

debuting at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

. He was one of the leading characters in the film ''

The Idiot ''The Idiot'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Идиот, Idiót) is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published serially in the journal ''The Russian Messenger'' in 1868–69. The title is an ...

'' (1992). In the mid 1990s, Khan Din began writing plays, the first was ''East is East'' (1996) first produced by

Tamasha Theatre Company Tamasha Theatre Company is a British theatre company founded in 1989 by director Kristine Landon-Smith and actor-writer Sudha Bhuchar. ''Tamasha'' ( mr, तमाशा) is an Indian word meaning "spectacle". The company has brought contemporary ...

in co-production with the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

and

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...

. It is often cited as one of the key works to bring Asian culture to mainstream British audiences. The play, published by

Nick Hern Books Nick Hern Books is a London-based independent specialist publisher of plays, theatre books and screenplays. The company was founded by the former Methuen drama editor Nicholas Hern in 1988. History Nick Hern Books was founded in June 1988,Sara ...

, was nominated for a 1998

Laurence Olivier Theatre Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

for Best New Comedy.Internet Movie Database: Ayub Khan Din trivia
retrieved 2010-10-24 The play draws very much from Khan-Din's own childhood in Salford, where he grew up in a large family with a

British Pakistani British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are British people, citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes ...

father and a

white British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...

mother. They had ten children. The marriage was abusive and violent but his father nursed his mother when she was dying of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

. After her death, he returned to Pakistan but died before the first performance of the play. In interviews, Khan-Din has said that the young boy Sajid Khan is a self-portrait, and that Sajid's parents are very exact portraits of his own parents.BBC Manchester 20 October 2010: West is West follow-up confirmed by Salford film writer
retrieved 2010-10-24 The film version of '' East is East'' (1999) stars

Om Puri Om Prakash Puri (18 October 1950 – 6 January 2017) was an Indian actor who appeared in mainstream commercial Hindi films as well as Bengali, Kannada,English,Punjabi and one Telugu film, as well as independent and art films and also starred ...

as the father and

Linda Bassett Linda Bassett (born 4 February 1950) is an English actress. Her television credits include Victoria Wood's '' dinnerladies'' (1999), '' Lark Rise to Candleford'' (2008–11), '' Grandma's House'' (2010–12) and '' Call the Midwife'' (2015–pres ...

as the mother. Khan Din adapted his own play, and won both a

British Independent Film Award The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, ...

and a London Critics' Circle Film Award for his screenplay, as well as being nominated for two

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

s for Best Adapted Screenplay and the Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer, he was also nominated for a

European Film Award The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mo ...

for Best European Screenwriter. In 2000, ''East is East'' received two further BAFTA nominations that year for Best Film and the

Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film The BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts presented at the British Academy Film Awards. The award was first given at the 1st British Academy Film Awards, first recognising the ...

the latter of which it won. In 2007, Khan Din's new comedy play '' Rafta, Rafta...'' an adaptation from the 1963

Bill Naughton William John Francis Naughton (12 June 1910 – 9 January 1992) was an Irish-born British playwright and author, best known for his play '' Alfie''. Early life Born into relative poverty in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland, he moved to Bo ...

play, ''All in Good Time''. It is set in the working class English town of

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

, and examines a story of marital difficulties within an

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

Indian family it opened on the Lyttelton stage of the National Theatre in

directed by

Nicholas Hytner Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner (; born 7 May 1956) is an English theatre director, film director, and film producer. He was previously the Artistic Director of London's National Theatre. His major successes as director include '' Miss Saigon'', ''T ...

it won the

Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End The ...

in 2008. The play debuted in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

at the Theatre Row New Group Theatre in May 2008, and has since then debuted at the HuM Theatre in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

in May 2010, in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

at the

Indian Institute of Technology The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are central government owned public technical institutes located across India. They are under the ownership of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. They are governed by the Insti ...

in 2011 and more recently at the Old Globe Theatre, in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

in 2012. The sequel to ''East is East'', '' West is West'' (2010) premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

and London International Film Festival's. The film's story is set in 1976, five years after the events in ''East is East''. Father George Khan is worried that his youngest son, Sajid, now 15, is turning his back on his Pakistani heritage, so he decides to take him for a visit to Pakistan. A film adaptation of ''Rafta, Rafta...'' was released under the title ''All in Good Time'' (2012) directed by

Nigel Cole Nigel Cole (born 1959) is an English film and television director. Career Cole began his career in the 1980s, directing current affairs shows and documentaries for Central Independent Television. Into the 1990s, Cole co-wrote the play ''Sod'' ...

and with

Reece Ritchie Reece Ritchie (born 23 July 1986) is an English actor. He is known for his film roles, such as Moha in ''10,000 BC'' (2008), Bis in '' Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time'' (2010), and Iolaus in ''Hercules'' (2014). He starred as Jay in the Bri ...

in the leading role. In 2013, Khan Din adapted E R Braithwaite's autobiographical novel ''To Sir, With Love'' for the stage as part of

Royal & Derngate Royal & Derngate is a theatre complex in the Cultural Quarter of Northampton, England, consisting of the Royal Theatre and Derngate Theatre. The Royal was built by theatre architect Charles J. Phipps and opened in 1884. Ninety-nine years late ...

, Northampton's ''Made In Northampton'' season. The play was directed by Mark Babych and starred

Matthew Kelly Matthew Kelly (born David Allan Kelly, 9 May 1950) is an English actor and presenter. Having been trained as a theatre actor, he first came to public prominence as a television presenter of ITV light entertainment shows such as '' Game for a ...

and Ansu Kabia. In 2014, Khan Din starred in a revival of ''East is East'', at the

Trafalgar Studios Trafalgar Theatre is a new West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is set to open in spring 2021 following a major multi-million pound restoration project aiming to reinstate it back to its ...

playing the role of the father "George" alongside

Jane Horrocks Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is a British actress. She portrayed the roles of Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in th ...

.Paul Taylo
"East Is East, Trafalgar Studios, review: Jane Horrocks terrific in Khan Din's comedy"
''The Independent'', 16 October 2015

Selected filmography

Writing credits

Awards and nominations

BAFTA Awards

1 win and 4 nominations

British Independent Film Awards

1 win and 1 nomination

London Film Critics' Circle

1 win and 1 nomination

Laurence Olivier Awards

1 win, 2 nominations

European Film Awards

1 nomination

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan Din, Ayub 1961 births English dramatists and playwrights Pakistani dramatists and playwrights English male film actors Muhajir people English people of Pakistani descent Male actors from Salford Living people English male dramatists and playwrights English television writers English screenwriters English male screenwriters Alumni of the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts British film actors of Pakistani descent 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors