Ayub Khan Din

Ayub Khan Din was born in 1961 and grew up in Salford. He studied drama at Salford College of Technology and then went on to study acting at Mountview Academy. After graduating in 1984, he worked mainly in theatre and film. He made his film debut in Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette and starred as Sammy in Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, scripted by Kureishi.

His debut play was East Is East, which premiered in 1996. A co-production with Tamasha Theatre Company, the Royal Court and Birmingham Rep, it was a major success and was revived in 2016 with Khan Din and Jane Horrocks in the lead roles, and at the National Theatre in 2021 in a new production by Iqbal Khan to mark the play's twenty-fifth anniversary. Khan Din wrote the screenplay for a film adaptation, staring Om Puri and Linda Bassett, winning a BAFTA for Best British Film.

Ayub Khan Din followed East Is East with Last Dance at Dum Dum (1999) and Notes on Falling Leaves (2004), and in 2007 he adapted Bill Naughton’s play All in Good Time as Rafta, Rafta… starring Meera Syal. The play won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. In 2012 the play was adapted for cinema using Naughton’s original title. Khan Din wrote a film sequel to East Is East, West Is West, which premiered in 2010. In 2013 Khan Din wrote a stage adaptation of E. R. Braithwaite’s novel To Sir, With Love.

More recently, he has worked in television, creating the successful Channel 4 school drama series Ackley Bridge, which ran for five seasons between 2017 and 2022.