Back in 1999 a surprise hit British film emerged called East Is East, following the misadventures of the Khan family, headed by George Khan, a Pakistani trying to hold onto the values of his upbringing in 70s Salford. It was a heady mix of broad comedy with dark drama. Twelve years on and the belated sequel is here but unfortunately they should have left it well alone.
It's 1976 and the Khan family have reduced, leaving just the young Sajid along with George and his British wife Ella. Sajid is a troubled young man, constantly skipping school because of bullying and caught shoplifting. When Sajid gives his father a stream of racist abuse, George decides to take the young man back to Pakistan for him to understand his background. When there, Sajid is given over to an old sage to show him the way while George has to face the family he left behind 30 years before, and to get one of his son a wife.
The first film was a huge hit, mainly because while it mixed humour with pathos and some shocking scenes, the characters were likeable. Here, however, things have changed. Vijay Raaz, as the angry Sajid, is such a disagreeable boy you really don't like him. He bad mouths his father, to the point of calling him the racist name that the bullies at school call the boy. He is spiteful, vicious and you really don't care whether he finds redemption or not.
Om Puri, who is an outstanding actor, again reprises his role of George and does another excellent job but the truth about his background is on show here and you find that he isn't as likeable as you first thought.
The first part of the film tries to inject humour but while the first film was character driven with the jokes, here we are reduced to toilet humour and it lowers the tone completely. Having sat through a large portion of the film, the excellent Linda Bassett arrives in Pakistan and you suddenly realise that she was badly missed. The film then changes gear and the drama kicks in, by that point it's all too little too late.
The other problem with the film is the editing. At one point a whole scene is missing and it is obviously on show. Just as you are getting into one subplot, then you are thrown into another without any real chance to digest what you have just seen. Writer Ayub Khan-Din, who did such a good job with the original film, seems to have so many ideas that he wants to cram in, it loses its way many times.
East Is East is a terrific film and I urge you, if you haven't seen it, to get hold of a copy and sit back and enjoy. West Is West, unfortunately, isn't a terrific film and having taken so long to produce a sequel, maybe they shouldn't have bothered.
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