East Is East (film) - Plot

Plot

Zahir "George" Khan is a Pakistani Muslim who has lived in England since 1937 and has been married to Ella, a British Roman Catholic of Irish descent, for 25 years, and has seven children with her: Nazir, Abdul, Tariq, Saleem, Maneer, Meenah and Sajid. The couple run a popular fish and chips shop. George's first wife lives in Pakistan. The film starts with an arranged marriage of the eldest son to a Pakistani girl. The son, Nazir, finds himself unable to go through with the marriage. He runs out at the start of the ceremony in front of all the family and guests much to the chagrin of his father and distress of his mother. In retaliation, George disowns Nazir and tells anyone who asks about him that he is dead.

The next crisis to fall on George is the discovery that the youngest son Sajid was accidentally not circumcised as is preferred in Islam (which, comically, sends the Muslim children in the mosque into a panic). Sajid is promptly taken to the hospital to get circumcised. When Ella sees the pain her son has suffered due to the circumcision, the conflict between her love of her husband and her inability to stand up to him, is readily visible. Left alone, the other children (barring Maneer) eat bacon and sausages, which is forbidden by Islam since they contain pork. When Meenah sees that her parents are coming back with Sajid she warns the others and they try to hide the evidence. Ella comes into the kitchen and smells it and keeps George away just long enough for them to get rid of everything.

Meanwhile, marriage is still on George's mind, and he accepts an introduction to Mr Shah, who is looking for good Pakistani bridegrooms for his two comically ugly and overweight daughters, Nighat and Nushaaba. Despite having seen the daughters' photographs (and having shown obvious but discreet disgust), George still promises Mr Shah that Abdul and Tariq will marry them. George tells Ella his plans, and she openly disagrees, reminding George of what happened to Nazir. But George takes no notice, again insisting that Nazir is dead and the children have no right whatsoever to disagree with him. Sajid accidentally overhears the conversation, and during a fight with Tariq, Saleem and Meenah, he blurts it out.

The arranged marriages infuriate Tariq, who is already in a relationship with a local white, British girl, Stella Moorhouse, and which he has kept secret from both George and Stella's racist grandfather. He destroys the clothes and watches that his father traditionally buys for all his sons' weddings, despite the others' attempts to stop him. When George later sees the desecrated items, ironically, he assaults Maneer, the only one who follows George's strict rules, for refusing to tell him the culprit. Ella stands between the two, greatly angering and confusing George. She tells him that his "pig-like" ignorance has caused the alienation of his children, the reason that they are so much "trouble" to him. George, however, does not understand this clearly and only hears it as Ella calling him a pig, a terrible insult to a Muslim. His uncontrollable rage turns on her and he beats her badly. In response, the children attempt to flee to Nazir in Eccles who, as it turns out, is gay, and living with a male partner. Nazir drives back to Manchester to confront George but leaves after his mother begs him to go as George will go mad. Nazir, desperate not to see his mother hurt, only leaves after she begs him saying that she can always come to him if she needs to. George briefly sees Nazir as he drives away, but appears regretful rather than angry.

George sees his world around him collapsing and resorts to very severe measures. He is losing the control and respect of his family. They see themselves as British, not Pakistani, and they get increasingly frustrated with their father's attempt to mould them in his image. Tariq tries speaking to his father reasonably, but George does not listen, even threatening Tariq at knifepoint into obeying him. Tariq finally agrees, but hints at divorcing his ugly wife as soon as possible.

Mr and Mrs Shah finally arrive with their unattractive daughters (on a comedic note, the daughters are both obese, Nushaaba has an abnormally huge overbite and Nighat is simply ugly, and it is hinted that they speak very little English). Ella knows she has brought up her children well, but the snobby and rude Mrs Shah makes constant subtle attacks on Ella. The final straw occurs when Saleem accidentally drops his sculpture of a vagina on Mrs Shah's lap. Mrs Shah directly insults Ella and her sons, calling them "half breeds". Ella does not take this abuse lightly and angrily ejects the Shahs and their "inbred monstrosities" from the house. George, expectedly, puts the blame on Ella instead of Mrs Shah, but Ella stands her ground and labels George as the source of the family's misery. George attacks Ella once again but the children come to the defence of their mother and stop him. Now seeing that his unjust position has driven his family, even Maneer, away from him, George becomes a broken man. He realises that his best intentions have backfired dreadfully and he is no longer the man of the house. George quietly leaves the household and finds solace in the fish and chips shop.

Despite this, Ella still sees George as her husband, someone she will remain faithful and loyal to until the end. The film ends on George and Ella having a cup of tea together, Tariq attempting to reconcile with an upset Stella, and the children playing together in the street.