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Starring:
Aqib Khan, Om Puri, Linda Bassett, Ila Arun, Thomas
Russell, Jimi Mistry, Vijay Raaz, Raj Bhansali
Director:
Andy De Emmony
West is West continues on from the 1999 hit film East is
East which was the story about that family set in 1971
in England.
It is now 1976, in Salford, Manchester, England, and
remaining members of the Khan family go through their
on-going struggle of the elder family members deeply
entrenched in traditionally Pakistani values. So it’s
the old customs versus the youngsters who were born in
Britain and have an upbringing amid the British culture.
George is in for a pleasant surprise when he meets his
first wife Basheera Khan (Ila Arun) and the daughters he had abandoned 30 years
ago when he left for England.
The tables are turned. Instead of teaching Sajid a lesson, George comes face to
face with his own misdemeanors, and realizes that it is he himself who has much
to learn. There is a drastic change in George and so he decides to make up for
some of his shortcomings. He builds the house and bonds with some old friends.
Cast:
Aqib Khan - Sajid Khan
Om Puri - George / Jahangir Khan
Linda Bassett - Ella Khan
Robert Pugh - Mr. Jordan
Thomas Russell - Hughsy (Bully)
Jimi Mistry - Tariq Khan
Vanessa Hehir - Esther
Yograj Singh - Customs Official
Vijay Raaz - Tanvir
Raj Bhansali - Zaid
Dhanalaxmi Padmakumar - Raushana Khan
Sheeba Chaddha - Rehana Khan
Ila Arun - Basheera Khan
Emil Marwa - Maneer Kahn
Nadim Sawalha - Pir Naseem
Kamal Arora - Master Eyaz
Kalra Chander - Abdullah
Zita Sattar - Neelam Haqq
Sujata Kumar - Mrs. Haqq
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Sixty year old George Khan (Om Puri) who is the head of
the family is still very much acting as the family
dictator – enforcing his beliefs upon his family – much
against the trend among the new generation. There are
Tariq (Jimi Mistry), Auntie Annie (Leslay Nicole) and
Maneer (Emil Marwa) in the family.
The protagonist is Sajid (Aqid Khan), the youngest of the
children who is now a teenager, 13 year old to be precise.
Sajid faces his father's tyrannical insistence on
Pakistani traditions at home and has to bear with fierce
racist bullies in the school-yard. Isolated and bored,
Sajid resorts to bunking school and shoplifting useless
items to spice up his dull life.
So George Khan and Ella (Linda Bassett) decide to take
Sajid to a trip to Pakistan to instill some much needed
cultural discipline.
Sajid
definitely is uncomfortable and feels very much out of
place in Pakistan. In fact it is difficult for him to fit
in.
Happiness is short lived for George as his second wife
Ella and Auntie Annie come to visit the native place and
this puts George in a mess. It is when Ella Khan the wife
back in England, who comes with her Aunt comes over and
sorts out the mess, past and present.
There are some interesting moments between Ella Khan and
Basheera Khan (George’s second and first wife). The first
one speaks only Punjabi and the other one only in English.
What is interesting is that rather than conveying through
their speech, both the wives express a lot through emotion
and body language.
Excellent performances from Aqib Khan and the experienced
Om Puri. Linda Basset and Ila Arun as the wives do justify
their parts in this enjoyable and moving story which is a
sequel to East is East.
-
Aniz Filmvala
Credits & Crew:
Produced by Leslee Udwin
Directed by Andy De Emmony
Screenplay writer - Ayub Khan-Din
Executive Producers - Shaana Diya, Kim Romer, Jane Wright,
Caroline Levy, Harish Amin
Original Music - Robert Lane
Music - Shankar Ehsaan Loy
Cinematography - Peter Robertson
Film Editing - Jon Gregory, Stephen O'Connell
Casting - Anji Carroll
Production Design - Tom Conroy, Aradhana Seth
Art Direction - Shital Kanvinde, Pradip Redij, Katie
Tuxford
Costume Design - Louise Stjernsward
Makeup Department - Penny Smith .... makeup designer
Production Managers- Deepak Gawade, Pramod Singh, Ciara
McGowan, Michael Saxton
Assistant Directors - Tess Joseph, Sam Dawking, Matthew
Baker, Hisham Chotani
Art Department - Aashrita Kamath, Tara Lal |
