West Is West, the long awaited sequel to Ayub Khan-Din’s acclaimed movie East Is East, is to get its UK premiere at the London Film Festival next month before heading to UK cinemas next February.
Those lucky enough to be attending the 35th Toronto International Film Festival this weekend were treated to the film’s world premiere.
Reuniting original cast members Om Puri, Linda Bassett, Lesley Nicol, Emil Marwa and Jimi Mistry, the follow-up picks up the family’s story in 1976 when the much diminished, but still claustrophobic and dysfunctional Khan family continues to struggle for survival.
Like his siblings in the original film, youngest son Sajid is struggling to cope with the conflict caused by his father’s tyrannical insistence on Pakistani tradition but Sajid also has to contend with the fierce bullies in the schoolyard.
In a final attempt to ‘sort him out’, the ever determined George decides to pack him off to Mrs Khan No 1 and family he had abandoned 30 years earlier. It’s not long before Ella Khan [Mrs Khan No 2], with a small entourage from Salford, England, swiftly follows to sort out the mess, past and present.
Puri reprises his rightly lauded role of George Khan, alongside fellow returning cast members Linda Bassett (Ella Khan), Jimi Mistry (Tariq Khan), Lesley Nicol (Auntie Annie) and Emil Marwa (Maneer Khan) for what promises to be one of the best of 2011’s cinema offerings.
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