'East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet' said Mark Twain. And this was way, way before he even knew of the existence of Zaheer.
'East is East' is the saga of Zaheer a.k.a. George, a Pakistani settled in England. Om Puri plays the quintessential Asian immigrant to Ole Blighty who duels with the demons of the old and, well, older worlds.
The cockney accented transplant Zaheer has an English wife (the wonderful Linda Basset) who's just thoroughly confused about this whole east - west twain not meeting.Both Zaheer and his wife are also a bit confused about sex education, which probably explains their brood of children. Six sons and one daughter are vested with the hope that they will breed with equal fecundity. There develops a slight crimp in the grand plan.
George wants the kids to marry girls of his choice (i.e., god fearing, law abiding and sweetly compliant). Unfortunately, forgets to add 'good looking' and 'beautiful' in the litany of required virtues. Consequently, George proffers his children a string of ahem! shall we say 'visually challenged' women as potential wives?
Bad move, buddy! Oldest son ditches at the wedding altar and subsequently discovers he is gay. In the meantime, two other boys who have been promised to some fairly hideous types, also flee. Zaheer distracts himself from all this self-inflicted tamasha by circumcising his youngest child.
And so the story goes on......
'East is East' picked up six BAFTA awards- the British equivalent of the Oscars. And believe me, it's worth every award. High family drama and dark humour punctuate a tale of alienation. Ayub Khan Din has written a great film about the vicissitudes of the Indian diaspora. Displacement was never so poignant nor so funny.
Rating: All the actors, Om Puri and Linda Baset in particular, turn in superlative performances. You laugh and cry at the same time because most of all, displacement and alienation are universal stories. Told with pathos and humour, this is a must see.
- Mafia Man Vs. The Schmuck >>
- A Musical Melodrama >>
- Forbidden Love >>
- Evil Genius >>
- Love and War >>
- Robinson Crusoe? >>
- Dinomite! >>
- Shymalan sizzles with the supernatural >>
- Femme Fatales >>
- Invisible Man >>
- Aaj Ke Sitare
- Bollywood Baatein
- Book Reviews
- Books
- Celeb Soup
- Chalo Cinema
- Geet Gaane
- Hollywood Hungama
- Mithya
- Moulin Rouge
- Movies
- New Releases
- Passages
- Quiz
- Short story Contest
- Sound of Music
- Star Ghar
- Communities
- Counsellors
- Youth Counsellors
- BPO Agony Aunt
- Contests
- Quizzes
- BPO Zone
 Post Comment |
|