West Is West – review

In 1999, East Is East was a smash-hit 70s-set British-Asian film and a key commercial cinema success of the New Labour era; it was a comedy about Pakistan, Britain and Islam that was of its pre-9/11 time, just as Chris Morris's Four Lions is very much of our time. But this sequel shows that its scenario and characters have an awful lot of life and relevance left in them. Young Sajid (Ajib Khan) is now a tricky teenager, unhappy at school, bullied by racists and patronised by a teacher who presents him with a copy of Kipling's Kim. So his formidable dad George (Om Puri) takes Sajid for a restorative trip to Pakistan, where he has been sending money to his first wife and family. His second, British wife Ella (Linda Bassett) pursues him out there, and effectively forces him to choose between identities. Perhaps it doesn't have the novelty of the first film, but it's refreshingly un-parochial, with charm and fun, and Bassett and Puri are reliably excellent.