East Is East (1999) Movie Information:

East Is East (1999) Directed by: Damien O'Donnell East Is East (1999) Written by: Ayub Khan-Din East Is East (1999) Cast: Om Puri, Linda Bassett, Jordan Routledge, Archie Panjabi, Emil Marwa, Chris Bisson, Jimi Mistry, Raji James, Ian Aspinall, Lesley Nicol

East Is East (1999) U.S. Distributor: Miramax East Is East (1999) U.K. Distributor: Film Four

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East Is East (1999) Synopsis:

For the seven kids of George Khan - proud Pakistani and chip shop owner - life is one long compromise. Tomboy Meenah prefers playing footsie to wearing a sari, hippie Saleem pretends to be studying engineering when he's really at art school, heart-throb Tariq has got a reputation as a local Casanova, and Sajid hasn't even been circumcised yet. For George Khan ('Ghengis' to his kids), life is an uphill battle to get his family to conform to traditional Pakistani values. But this is Salford in the 1970s. George's English wife Ella is Lancashire born, and his kids have got minds of their own. With one disastrous arranged marriage already in the family - Nazir fled at the altar to become a milliner in Eccles - George plots to bring his next two sons into line by marrying them off to the daughters of Mr. Shah, Master Butcher and proud owner of an extended home in Bradford. East is East is the often hilarious and sometimes painful story of what happens when two cultures collide within one family. In the Khan's cramped terraced house with its scant indoor plumbing, anarchy erupts on a daily basis. When the Khan kids begin to oppose their father's petty tyrannies, Ella is forced to make a choice between her love for her husband and the right of her children to make their own ways in the world.

East Is East (1999) Movie Review:

East is East is an enjoyable comedy drama about an Asian family living in Manchester in the 70's.

It is very well written and played (especially Omi Puri, who plays the overbearing father). It touches on issues of culture differences, racism etc. without getting too bogged down with them, which if they were allowed to would ruin the light-heartedness of the film.

That said though, some later scenes of unnexpected domestic violence do stumble into the film, and don't quite fit.

Also, the theatrical roots of the film do show a little too much, as we rarely go further than their back yard, except for an amusing trip to Bradford.

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East Is East (1999) review written by: David Brook