East is East

God bless Om Puri. Well, let's talk about the movie first.

Don't go by the preview you might have seen on the net (e.g., at us.imdb.com), or in theaters. It is not a slapstick comedy as it is made out to be. It is surely funny, but not always so. The movie is about a tyrranical Pakistani emigrant settled in England, his British wife, his kids assimiliated in the British culture, and their chip shop. After his eldest son gets cold feet just as he is about to get betrothed to someone unknown to him, Om Puri decides that he has to take all measures to save his face in the Pakistani community. And then follow his plans to get his remaining sons married into Muslim families from "Bradistan" (nee Bradford), and his family's attempts to try and be British.

Om Puri puts in another incredible performance. The guy amazes one with his ability to get under the skin of the character called George Khan. His language, his accent, his body language, his expressions... he nails George Khan down to a very believable person so well that you even begin to understand him without despising him. 'Nuff said. The movie is great. It is funny, but the humor is always so... down to earth. Sure, there's this randy dog, as the movie claims, but that's hardly the highlight of the movie. The movie is well paced, and never rushes into a situation. Every now and then the director throws in enough humor to not let George Khan's "i'll take you by the horns" approach to life drag you down.

I had the chance to see it in a theater, thanks to Seattle's theaters with a sense of taste. I think it's playing at a bunch of theaters in the US currently. Don't miss it.