EAST IS EAST

Om Puri, distinguished Indian thespian and star of “My Son the Fanatic” (23rd CIFF, 1999) adds another facet to his portrayals of the Asian immigrant experience in England. The place is the suburb of Salford, in 1971, the disco era ? post-Beatles, post Swinging London, pre-punk, pre-Thatcher. Puri plays George, proud head of the Khan household who wants to raise his seven children right, meaning in traditional Pakistani style. For the Khan kids life is a constant struggle against their father's dogmatic ways. One tomboy daughter prefers competing in an English football uniform to wearing the sari. Hippie Saleem, with the assent of his mother, clandestinely attends art college instead of George's prized engineering school. For ladykiller Tariq, a metropolis filled with “birds” is, like, shagedelic baybee! And Mrs. Khan, whose birthplace is far-off, exotic Lancashire, is the one caught in the middle of an East/West divide and must choose between the love she feels for her husband and repeatedly sanctioning the outrageous acts and everyday rebellion among her seven free-spirited offspring. Damien O'Donnell's sometimes poignant, sometimes hilarious film shows what happens when two cultures collide within one large family.