Despite concerns that it would spark protests from the local Bangaldeshi community, the London FF premiere of Brick Lane went off without a hitch.

The campaign against the film complained that it promotes racist stereotypes of Sylhetis, who make up 95% of Britain's Bangladeshi community. Particular concern focused on the belief that the film showed a leech falling into a curry dish in a Brick Lane restaurant. Producers always insisted that the complaints were based on false rumours about the content of the film.

Similar protests followed the publication of the book, Brick Lane. Popular intellectual Germaine Greer publicly stated that she supported the campaign against the film.

Salman Rushdie, himself the subject of a fatwa issued after the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses, wrote a letter to The Guardian denouncing Greer's support for the Brick Lane activists as being, "philistine, sanctimonious, and disgraceful, but it is not unexpected."

In July, the production company abandoned plans to film on location as a result of a campaign led by local businessmen and traders. After consulting with local police, the producers became concerned for the safety of the cast and crew as activists threatened to set up street blockades if the production crew began filming in the Brick Lane area.

The London Chairman of the Greater Sylhet council planned to bring protesters from Chester, Cardiff, Manchester, and Birmingham to rally against the film

In a statement, first-time director Sarah Gavron said, 'The clear message from audiences once they have seen the film is that it is absolutely not disrespectful or controversial in any way. None of those elements cited by the minority of protesters during the production period appear in the film.'

Parminder Vir, who worked as an advisor on the film and who received an OBE in 2002 for her services to broadcasting and film, told the Sunday Telegraph, 'This plays into the hands of people who want us to live in fear of immigration and Islam. Showing this film would not damage anyone. It is not a film about race but about one woman's struggle in a new country. She just happens to be a Muslim from Bangladesh.'

The adaptation of Monica Ali's 2003 acclaimed best seller, which was short-listed for the Booker Prize, was scheduled to be the Royal Film Performance of this year's London Film Festival.

But, in September, Prince Charles turned down the invitation to attend, claiming a scheduling conflict. However, there was wide speculation that the heir to the throne wished to avoid the controversy surrounding the film.

Despite the scheduling clash, Prince Charles found time to visit the British Film Institute at the Southbank centre to look at archive footage with his wife Camilla Parker-Bowles and actor Colin Firth.

The story follows the arranged marriage of a 17 year old Bangladeshi to an older man in London's East End. Feeling displaced and alone with her pot-bellied older husband, the girl begins an affair with a radical and attractive younger man.