A Bradford teenager is the star of a British-made movie which is due to premiere at cinemas across the country in February.

Thornton Grammar School sixth form pupil Aqib Khan had very little acting experience before auditioning for the lead role of Sajid Khan in new flick, West Is West.

The BBC film is a sequel to the 1999 movie East Is East. It continues the story of the claustrophobic and dysfunctional Khan family.

Sixteen-year-old Aqib plays the youngest Salford-born son of a Pakistani immigrant whose English name is George.

It is directed by Andy de Emmony and written by Ayub Khan-Din, who penned the first film. “I lived in Holme Wood for a while and in the leavers assembly at Knowleswood Primary I played Oliver Twist. That is the only experience I have ever had,” Aqib said.

After Knowleswood he attended Nab Wood School, then Tong High School where he took drama. Now he is at Thornton Grammar where he is studying a BTEC in sports.

It was a teacher at Nab Wood, he said, who urged him to audition for the role as Sajid. The teenager said he found it easy to step into the mind of his character, having suffered from racism. Aqib said: “Sajid is mixed race and experiences racism on both sides, and I have experienced that so I could put that into my performance.”

West Is West is released in February.