The film list

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An ongoingly updated list of films portraying British South Asian diaspora narratives and/or featuring British South Asians in leading roles or protagonists in fictional and biographical feature films. This includes some titles where British South Asian actors have a featured role set outside of Britain (*). The earliest portrayal of British South Asians diaspora, on screen, can be seen in A Private Enterprise (1974) which is regarded as the first feature to spotlight British South Asian immigrant life. Most links direct to IMDb or similar.

This is an ongoing project where we encourage engagement and community, if you have any recommendations, which are always welcomed, please submit them via Contribute. You can learn more about why this list was created via Compiling the list.

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A

• Accused (Dir. Philip Barantini, 2023)

• Ae Fond Kiss (Dir. Ken Loach, 2004)

• After Love (Dir. Aleem Khan, 2020)

• Ali And Ava (Dir. Clio Barnard, 2021)

• All In Good Time (Dir. Nigel Cole, 2011)

• Allelujah (Dir. Richard Eyre, 2022)

• Amar, Akbar And Tony (Dir. Atul Malhotra, 2015)

• An Ordinary Man* (Dir. Brad Silberling, 2017)

• Anita And Me (Dir. Metin Hüseyin, 2002)

• The Arbor (Dir. Clio Barnard, 2010)

• Autobiography Of A Princess (Dir. James Ivory, 1975)

• Arifa (Dir. Sadia Saeed, 2019)

B

• Backstabbing For Beginners* (Dir. Per Fly, 2018)

• Banglatown Banquet (Dir. Hettie Macdonald, 2006)

• Bazodee* (Dir. Todd Kessler, 2015)

• Bend It Like Beckham (Dir. Gurinder Chadha, 2002)

• Betrayal (Dir. David Hugh Jones, 1983)

• Bhaji On The Beach (Dir. Gurinder Chadha, 1993)

• Bhavishya: The Future (Dir. Nikhil Kaushik, 2006)

• The Black Prince (Dir. Kavi Raz, 2017)

• Blinded By The Light (Dir. Gurinder Chadha, 2019)

• The Blue Tower (Dir. Smita Bhide, 2008)

• Bollywood Queen (Dir. Jeremy Wooding, 2002)

• Boogie Man (Dir. Andrew Morahan, 2018)

• The Boy With The Topknot (Dir. Lynsey Miller, 2017)

• Bradford Riots (Dir. Neil Biswas, 2006)

• Brick Lane (Dir. Sarah Gavron, 2007)

• Bride And Prejudice (Dir. Gurinder Chadha, 2004)

• Brothers In Trouble (Dir. Udayan Prasad, 1995)

C

• Cash And Curry (Dir. Sarjit Bains, 2008)

• Catch Me Daddy (Dir. Daniel Wolfe, 2014)

• Chicken Tikka Masala (Dir. Harmage Singh Kalirai, 2005)

• The Children (Dir. Tony Palmer, 1990)

• The Circuit (Dir. Ben Taylor, 2016)

• City Of Tiny Lights (Dir. Pete Travis, 2016)

• Click And Collect (Dir. Ben Palmer, 2018)

• Companion* (Dir. Raghuvir Joshi, 2023)

• Compulsion (Dir. Sarah Harding, 2008)

• The Confession* (Dir. David Hugh Jones, 1999)

• Convenience (Dir. Keri Collins, 2013)

• Corner Shop: Thank You, Come Again (Dir. Islah, 2019)

• Corner Shop: Zombie’s On The High Street (Dir. Islah and Mistah Islah, 2018)

• Crushed Wings (Dir. Lalit Bhusal, 2021)

D

• Dalíland* (Dir. Mary Harron, 2022)

• Der Koch* (Dir. Ralf Huettner, 2014)

• A Distant Mirage (Dir. Harbhajan Virdi, 2008)

• Don’t Stop Dreaming (Dir. Aditya Raj Kapoor, 2007)

E

• Ealing Comedy (Dir. Neville Raschid, 2008)

• East Is East (Dir. Damien O’Donnell, 1999)

• Eaten By Lions (Dir. Jason Wingard, 2018)

• The Effects Of Lying (Dir. Isher Sahota, 2023)

• Elegy* (Dir. Isabel Coixet, 2008)

• Encounter* (Dir. Michael Pearce, 2021)

• The English Harem (Dir. Robin Sheppard, 2005)

• Evil Eye* (Dir. Elan Dassani and Rajeev Dassani, 2020)

• Everywhere And Nowhere (Dir. Menhaj Huda, 2011)

F

• The Feral Generation (Dir. Andrew Jones, 2007)

• Finding Fatimah (Dir. Oz Arshad, 2017)

• Fingernails* (Dir. Christos Nikou, 2023)

• Flight (Dir. Alex Pillai, 1997)

• Footprints On Water (Dir. Nathalia Syam, 2023)

• The Forbidden Note (Dir. Callum Andrew Johnston, 2016)

• Four Lions (Dir. Chris Morris, 2010)

• Fresh Kill* (Dir. Shu Lea Cheang, 1994)

G

• A Game Of Two Halves (Dir. Khayam Khan, 2024)

• Gangs Of Tooting Broadway (Dir. Devanand Shanmugam, 2013)

• Gandhi* (Dir. Richard Attenborough, 1982)

• Granada Nights (Dir. Abid Khan, 2021)

• The Green Knight (Dir. David Lowery, 2021)

• Guilty Pleasures (Dir. Sonny Michael Chohan, 2016)

• The Guru* (Dir. Daisy von Scherler Mayer, 2002)

• Guru In Seven (Dir. Shani Grewal, 1998)

H

• Halal Daddy (Dir. Conor McDermottroe, 2017)

• Harem* (Dir. Arthur Joffé, 1985)

• Honeycomb Lodge (Dir. Lesley Manning, 2014)

• The Honeymoon (Dir. Dean Craig, 2022)

• Honour (Dir. Shan Khan, 2014)

• Hotel Mumbai* (Dir. Anthony Maras, 2018)

• House Of Sand And Fog* (Dir. Vadim Perelman, 2003)

• The Hundred-Foot Journey* (Dir. Lasse Hallström, 2014)

I

• I.D. 2: Shadwell Army (Dir. Joel Novoa, 2016)

• Ill Manors (Dir. Plan B, 2012)

• In Camera (Dir. Naqqash Khalid, 2023)

• In The Earth (Dir. Ben Wheatley, 2021)

• The Infidel (Dir. Josh Appignanesi, 2010)

• Intrigo: Death Of An Author* (Dir. Daniel Alfredson, 2018)

• It Snows In Benidorm* (Dir. Isabel Coixet, 2020)

• It’s A Wonderful Afterlife (Dir. Gurinder Chadha, 2010)

J

• Jadoo (Dir. Amit Gupta, 2013)

• Jules* (Dir. Marc Turtletaub, 2023)

L

• Learning To Drive* (Dir. Isabel Coixet, 2014)

• Life Goes On (Dir. Sangeeta Datta, 2009)

• Lion* (Dir. Garth Davis, 2016)

• Little English (Dir. Pravesh Kumar, 2022)

• Love + Hate (Dir. Dominic Savage, 2005)

M

• Mad, Sad And Bad (Dir. Avie Luthra, 2009)

• Madame Sousatzka (Dir. John Schlesinger, 1988)

• Majdhar (Dir. Ahmed Alauddin Jamal, 1984)

• The Man Who Knew Infinity (Dir. Matt Brown, 2015)

• Kama Sutra: A Tale Of Love* (Dir. Mira Nair, 1996)

• Mischief Night (Dir. Penny Woolcock, 2006)

• Mississippi Masala* (Dir. Mira Nair, 1991)

• Mogul Mowgli (Dir. Bassam Tariq, 2020)

• Monkey Man* (Dir. Dev Patel, 2024)

• Murdered By My Father (Dir. Bruce Goodison, 2016)

• My Beautiful Laundrette (Dir. Stephen Frears, 1985)

• My Brother The Devil (Dir. Sally El Hosaini, 2012)

• My Son The Fanatic (Dir. Udayan Prasad, 1997)

N

• Next Exit* (Dir. Mali Elfman, 2022)

• Nina’s Heavenly Delights (Dir. Pratibha Parmar, 2006)

• Nimona* (Dir. Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, 2023)

O

• Of God’s Men (Dir. Waheed Iqbal, 2024)

• One Crazy Thing (Dir. Amit Gupta, 2016)

P

• Partition (Dir. Ken McMullen, 1987)

• Partition* (Dir. Vic Sarin, 2007)

• Pascali’s Island* (Dir. James Dearden, 1988)

• A Passage To India* (Dir. David Lean, 1984)

• People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan (Dir. Jack Clough, 2021)

• The Personal History Of David Copperfield (Dir. Armando Iannucci, 2019)

• Polite Society (Dir. Nida Manzoor, 2023)

• A Private Enterprise (Dir. Peter Smith, 1974)

• Provoked (Dir. Jag Mundhra, 2006)

R

• RU-486: The Last Option (Dir. Irene Maffei, 2011)

• The Reluctant Fundamentalist* (Dir. Mira Nair, 2012)

• The Rendezvous* (Dir. Annemarie Jacir and Amin Matalqa, 2016)

• Rita, Sue And Bob Too (Dir. Alan Clarke, 1987)

• The Ritual (Dir. David Bruckner, 2017)

• Runs In The Family* (Dir. Ian Gabriel, 2023)

S

• Sammy And Rosie Get Laid (Dir. Stephen Frears, 1987)

• Second Generation (Dir. Shane O’Sullivan, 2000)

• Second Generation (Dir. Jon Sen, 2003)

• Sexy Beast (Dir. Jonathan Glazer, 2000)

• Shifty (Dir. Eran Creevy, 2008)

• Silas Marner: The Weaver Of Raveloe (Dir. Giles Foster, 1985)

• Sixth Happiness (Dir. Waris Hussein, 1997)

• Shongram (Dir. Munsur Ali, 2014)

• Sky Peals (Dir. Moin Hussain, 2023)

• Slumdog Millionaire* (Dir. Danny Boyle, 2008)

• Sound Of Metal* (Dir. Darius Marder, 2019)

• Spider In The Web* (Dir. Eran Riklis, 2019)

• Stranger Things (Dir. Eleanor Burke and Ron Eyal, 2010)

T

• Testimony* (Dir. Tony Palmer, 1987)

• Those Four Walls (Dir. Ameet Chana, 2017)

• Touch Of Pink (Dir. Ian Iqbal Rashid, 2004)

• Triads, Yardies And Onion Bhajees (Dir. Sarjit Bains, 2003)

• Trishna* (Dir. Michael Winterbottom, 2011)

• The Truth About Love (Dir. John Hay, 2005)

• Turtle Diary (Dir. John Irvin, 1985)

• Twenty8k (Dir. David Kew and Neil Thompson, 2012)

U

• Unicorns (Dir. Sally El Hosaini and James Krishna Floyd, 2023)

V

• Viceroy’s House* (Dir. Gurinder Chadha, 2017)

• Victoria And Abdul* (Dir. Stephen Frears, 2017)

W

• The Wackness* (Dir. Jonathan Levine, 2008)

• The Wedding Guest* (Dir. Michael Winterbottom, 2018)

• West Is West (Dir. Andy De Emmony, 2010)

• What’s Love Got To Do With It? (Dir. Shekhar Kapur, 2022)

• Wild West (Dir. David Attwood, 1992)

• Without A Clue (Dir. Thom Eberhardt, 1988)

Y

• Yasmin (Dir. Kenneth Glenaan, 2004)

• Yesterday (Dir. Danny Boyle, 2019)

• You Kill Me* (Dir. John Dahl, 2007)