Omid Djalili

Q&A: Omid Djalili

The most expensive thing I've ever bought? The concept of New Labour.

Lenny Henry and Omid Djalili plan stage return

Comedians Lenny Henry and Omid Djalili are both planning returns to the West End stage following their respective theatre debuts last year.

Mahmud Nasir (Omid Djalili) is not dissimilar to many middle-aged Muslim minicab drivers in London: he observes his faith (to an extent), he drinks (a bit) and he gets angry with his black taxi-driving rivals. But upon clearing out his dead mother's house, he finds his birth certificate, and realises his whole life - or at least the one he tries his best to lead - is a lie. He was actually born Jewish and named Solly Shimshillewitz. Torn between two faiths, he enlists a black cabbie rival to help him 'learn to be Jewish', putting his son's engagement to the stepdaughter of an extremist Muslim cleric in severe jeopardy in the process.

This David Baddiel-scripted film (Directed by Josh Appignanesi) features many of the usual bit-part British comic actors and lots of very Baddiel jokes, only a few of which (such as a recurring motif about how annoying it is when people do 'air quotes') feel fresher than a bunch of Mary Whitehouse Experience outtakes rewritten for grown-ups.

Aside from the moments when it seems like North-East London's below-par answer to a Woody Allen movie, The Infidel tackles an ambitious and sensitive subject in an impressively balanced manner, yet without ever managing to feel like it needs to exist.

Omid Djalili interview

Omid Djalili, the British-Iranian actor/stand-up, talks about his new film, The Infidel, which helped him towards overcoming an identity crisis.

Video interview: David Baddiel

David Baddiel chats about Omid Djalili's "big funny face", his hatred for finger "quoting" and not setting out to be blasphemous

Which is the funniest religion?

Omid Djalili and David Baddiel talk to Dominic Cavendish about their daring new comedy 'The Infidel'.

A funny five minutes with David Baddiel

The funny man, 45, on comedy porn, sharing a flat (and dead frogs) with Frank Skinner, Omid Djalili's moment with a banana and his comic heroes.

Omid Djalili interview

Omid Djalili is a representative of the Eastern world, yet an everyman with Homer Simpson tendencies.

Five Minutes With: Omid Djalili

This week, comedian and actor Omid Djalili talks to Matt about getting nerves on stage, playing with cultural stereotypes, how an exploding goldfish helped his early career - and tells Matt he would have bullied him at school.

Omid Djalili becomes an Infidel

It's the story of a British Asian Muslim who turns out to be Jewish - oh, and he's played by an Iranian.