West Is West Review

• 15th Feb 2011

For everyone south of the Watford Gap, East Is East pretty much single-handedly put Bradford on the map. So, the eventual release of the long-awaited sequel,  West is West, will certainly bring another leap ahead in the culture stakes  for many for whom working class Manchester is about as familiar as rural Pakistan. Convenient, then, that most of West is West is set in rural Pakistan at the home of “Mrs Khan Number One”. Yep, that’s right, turns out he had another wife all the time and she didn’t get much of a mention in the tribulations of East is East.

Ever the problem child, once all his trouble-making older brothers and sisters fly the nest, all the attentions of imposing, oppressive, overbearing George Khan (Om Puri) are turned to his youngest son, Sajid ‘Ourkid’ Khan (Aqib Khan, baring a startling resemblance to Jordan Routledge of East is East) who is finding secondary school a little less than a safe haven away from his turbulent home-life thanks to the 2D school bullies and headmaster who seems still to be living in the late 19^th Century (John Bardon). Sajid is caught bunking once too often, so it’s off to Pakistan with him to teach him about what it really means to be a man according to George and his backwards values.

Just as he does in Bradford, George seriously rocks the boat with his Pakistani family, who are none too pleased to see him after such a long absence. His monthly cheques in the post seem to have done little to sweeten their opinions of the runaway husband, and his family with the English Mrs Khan is certainly a sore conversation point. Cue awkward faces, and fairly predictable uncomfortable small-talk. In fact, that’s the main difference between East Is East and West Is West: the original was hugely original and thoroughly surprising but West Is West is basically predictable. Here’s the basic premise: typical unruly teenage boy unwillingly gets taken on ‘rite of passage’ trip by stubborn father. Boy tries to hate it but can’t resist getting involved. Boy finds himself and Dad learns something along the way too. Boy goes home. That’s pretty much the long and the short of it.

There are some memorable moments involving cows and a dust storm and a crazy old man with a flute… not to mention Mrs Khan Number Two’s unexpected arrival and the ensuing hilarious culture shock which follows involving a kebab and a hole in the floor. Okay, so there are lots of memorable moments but none of them are enough to push West Is West up to the same gloriously level of reality which came with East Is East. Whilst it’s not a sequel that feels tacked on, I don’t feel I’ve really gained anything through watching it above and beyond some shallow laughs (and sniffles).

West Is West is worth watching if, like me, you became so attached to the Khan family the first time round that you just have to know where they go to next. But if you’re content with a bag of chips and half a cuppa, I’d leave it at that and save the kebab and curry for the Kumars.

Dani Singer