Cash and Curry

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Only Fools and Horses episode
"Cash and Curry"
Series	1
Writer	John Sullivan
Director	Martin Shardlow
Producer	Ray Butt
Duration	30 minutes
Airdate	22 September 1981
Audience	7.3 million

Cash and Curry is the third episode of series 1 of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses. It was first screened on 22 September 1981.

1 Synopsis
2 Episode cast
3 Quotes
4 Trivia
5 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Attending a dinner and dance at the Camberwell Chamber of Trade, Del Boy meets and befriends an Indian man named Vimmal Malik. Outside, Del and Rodney inadvertently become involved in a dispute with a Mr. Ram (Babar Bhatti), who appears to have a long standing grudge against Malik. Ram's heavy is set upon Del and Malik after the situation escalates, only to be floored by Del.

Further investigation causes Del and Rodney to discover that Malik and Ram are from rival families, each of whom makes claim to an ancient statue, of the Hindu God Kubera, of great sentimental and financial value. Malik has the statue, but Ram wants it and informs Del that he is prepared to pay £4000 for it. He is unable to make such an offer directly however, due to the caste system preventing him from speaking to Malik directly. Sensing an opportunity to profit, Del agrees to act as a go-between for Ram.

Del speaks to Malik, informing him that Ram is prepared to pay £2000, with his intention being to keep the other £2000 for himself. Malik eventually accepts the offer, but is unwilling to hand over the statue before receiving the cash. A problem emerges when it becomes clear that Ram is equally unwilling to handover the money before receiving the statue. Rodney at this point attempts to convince Del to let the deal go, but Del is unrelenting and decides to raise the £2000 himself by selling off unwanted or unneeded items from the flat. Eventually he succeeds in convincing Rodney to go along with the plan.

The money is duly raised and paid to Malik, and the statue handed over. When Del and Rodney go to the restaurant Ram supposedly owns, however, they find that he is gone - and that he does not own the restaurant and never did. The waiter there informs him that the cheque provided bounced, and that enquiries as to his accommodation revealed he had left there as well, leaving three weeks rent unpaid. Adding to the Trotter's woes, the waiter examines the statue and reveals that they cost just £19 on Portobello Road. Realising the extent of their loss, and that they cannot report the pair to the police, Del and Rodney leave the restaurant dejected and without options. Rodney suggests drowning their sorrows in a curry house, and Del angrily throws the statue at Rodney. Meanwhile, Malik and Ram joke to each other about the stupidity of the Trotter brothers in falling for the con, and it emerges that they have successfully carried it out in various other locations, as they travel to their next destination to try it again.

[edit] Episode cast

Actor	Role
David Jason	Del Boy
Nicholas Lyndhurst	Rodney
Lennard Pearce	Grandad
Renu Setna	Mr Ram
Malik Armhed Khalil	Vimmal
Babar Bhatti	Restaurant manager

[edit] Quotes

[Del and Rodney have found out that Vimmal has left London with Mr. Ram.]

Rodney: No sign of Vimmal?

Del: No, he packed his bags and had it away on his toes five minutes after we left! As Macbeth said to Hamlet in A Midsummer Night's Dream: "We've been done up like a couple of kippers."

[Del and Rodney reveal to the waiter in "Ram's" restaurant that they paid £2000 for the statue]

Waiter: £2000? Why, you can get them for £19 in Portobello Road! It's amazing how much you can save if you shop around

[edit] Trivia

The idea for the script was based purely on the name of the episode "Cash and Curry", from that the script was devised.
The song that is played during the sales montage is Money by Pink Floyd. The DVD Region 2 version has a different music track due to contractual reasons by the BBC.
The music at the beginning of the episode when Rodney sees Del Boy's Vauxhall Velox in the car park was very different from the music used in future episodes.
This was the only episode were we see the Vauxhall Velox. The Capri Ghia (which wouldn't appear until "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Uncle") replaced this very later in the series as Del Boy's personal car.