Think Leon the Pig Farmer and Suzie Gold and you may well be squirming.

But The Infidel, according to its writer David Baddiel, is aiming to go deeper than that.

The Josh Appiganesi-directed film, which is released next week, tells the story of British Muslim Mahmud Nasir (Omid Djalili), a black cab driver, who discovers that he was born Jewish - and his real name is Solly Shimsillewitz.

Mahmud begins living a double life - extremely Muslim at home to keep his son Rashid happy while learning how to be Jewish from his new fellow black cab driver friend Lenny (The West Wing's Richard Schiff).

Lenny invites Mahmud to a barmitzvah, but on his way he meets Rashid at a Justice for Palestine rally.

Dressed in a suit, Mahmud looks like any other Muslim supporter - until he reveals a yarmulke he is wearing underneath.

David, who shot to fame as part of The Mary Whitehouse Experience, said: "I think that people are terrified about race and religion, especially issues surrounding Muslims and Jews.

"When people are terrified, what they really should do is laugh.

"I love Omid and his big funny face. I am hoping that people recognise that underneath the comedy, the message of the film is one of mutual tolerance - if not, I am hoping to find a new identity."

David has written four novels since his days with Frank Skinner on Fantasy Football League and Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned, but this is his first film script.

Omid, who was born to Iranian Baha'i parents, has links with Jews.

He told the Jewish Telegraph: "I had Jewish friends at my school in west London, but I did not know much about the religion.

"Then when I became a comedian, I gravitated towards Jewish comics such as Ian Stone and Ivor Dembina and we became friends.

"I guess as we all came from ethnic minorities, we kind of felt like outsiders."

And his first show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in 1996, was called The Arab and The Jew, where he starred in a double act alongside Dembina.

Omid said: "Mahmud is basically a beer-swilling fat git - a kind of Homer Simpson character.

"He is someone who's very masculine and very much a bloke, but he happens to be a Pakistani Muslim, although he is not particularly devout or well versed. I related to him very much.

"The film captures so much of what I want to say about race and religion.

"A great deal has been made in the political realm to 'tolerate' and to 'live side by side' whereas to highlight absurdities and to laugh at similarities as well as differences is possibly a more meaningful way to go.

"I think everyone has a slightly older and more sensible friend to look up to at school and, in comedy, I think that role in my life has been filled by David.

"I have always wanted to write a film like The Infidel, but it took my more intelligent and capable friend to do it for me."

The duo obviously get on well, with Omid laughing: "It is an interesting partnership - I bring the funny to the table and he brings the intelligent and the funny, thus Baddiel wins.

"It is not fair. Jews so control the media."

Omid was playing another Jewish character, Fagin, in Oliver! at the Theatre Royal, in London, when David realised he would be perfect for The Infidel.

Omid recalled: "He thought I would be right for the role.

"Financially I think the film's theme was a bit of a hot potato and it took a while to get a distributor on-board.

"But once everything was sorted, David invited me to become a producer on the film as well, which I was happy to do."

David, loves the character-swap film and was influenced by that genre while creating and writing The Infidel.

He explained: "I felt there was something in the idea of a body swap film and on some level, that is what I think the film is.

"A lot of people will take this film as being a massive culture clash, but for me, it is a swap movie like Trading Places or Big.

"If it was a kids' movie, it would be about a cat that discovered it was born a dog."

But while there is a lot of animosity between Jews and Muslims, David felt that writing something comedic about the tensions between the two communities would be beneficial.

He said: "People are frightened of the material, that it is about race and it is about Islam.

"They have come along with me on this belief, both at the production company and elsewhere, that the time is right for there to be a comedy about this."

And Omid agrees. He said: "I think people are very nervous about laughing at anything to do with religion.

"I always thought that there was a line where you should never make fun of the founders of a faith, but you can make fun of people that follow a religion as they are human. You can laugh at human foibles."

Thanks to David's love for American indie movies, the film has an almost artsy feel, and, also a low budget, which is just the way Omid likes it.

He said: "It was arguably the most fun I have ever had on set.

"Because it was low-budget, we all shared one big trailer.

"I remember one day all of us standing in the p****** rain and David's mother, who is a lovely lady, entertaining us all with Jewish stories and jokes. It was so funny."

Omid echoes David's sentiments about the film's storyline not causing issues for either Jews and Muslims.

He added: "We held a screening for MuJew, which is comprised of a group of Muslims and Jews and they all loved it.

"I spoke to both Muslims and Jews from the group and none of them had a problem with it. It received a really positive reception."

Omid has been mistaken for a Muslim, being of Iranian parentage, and he admits that he is not fully read-up on his own faith as a Baha'i.

The religion is based on spiritual unity in which figures such as Jesus and Mohammed are spiritual messengers.

He went to Israel in February as the Baha'i Shrine and Gardens are located in Haifa.

The gardens, completed in 2001, are a memorial to the founders of the Baha'i faith, which was founded in 19th century Persia.

Omid joked: "We spent nine days in northern Israel and went to Akko as well.

"When I first went to Israel a couple of years ago, I found Israelis to be the rudest people on earth - but they had the most stunning women.

"But when I went a few months ago, the service was great and everybody was really friendly - but the women were not as nice-looking."

Having played a Jewish character in The Infidel, Omid admits one of his dream roles would be as another Jew, Max Bialystock in Mel Brooks' The Producers.

"Or maybe Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof," he laughed.