An immigrant father decides to take his truant son back to the old country.
Salford, North of England, 1975. The now-much-diminished, but still claustrophobic and dysfunctional Khan family continues to struggle for survival. Sajid, the youngest Khan, the runt of the litter, is deep in pubescent crisis under heavy assault from both his father's tyrannical insistence on Pakistani tradition and from the fierce bullies in the schoolyard. So in a last, desperate attempt to 'sort him out', his father decides to pack him off to Mrs Khan No 1 and family in the Punjab, the wife and daughters he had abandoned 35 years earlier. It is not long before Ella Khan (Mrs Khan No 2) and a small entourage from Salford, England swiftly follow to sort out the mess, past and present.—Sales Repesentative
Born in Pakistan, Jahangir Khan now lives in Salford, England (as "George") with his Caucasian wife Ella and their youngest son Sajid, a schoolboy who cannot speak or understand Urdu/Punjabi or locate Pakistan on a map, but is picked on by Caucasian classmates, called a "Paki," and physically abused so much that he withdraws deep into himself. Jahangir's rage knows no bounds when he is told that Sajid is in police custody for shoplifting. He decides to take him to Pakistan where he hopes to be re-united with the rest of his estranged family, including his first wife, Basheera. Upon arrival there, Sajid rebels and refuses to fall into line, while Jahangir sets out to find a wife for his son Maneer. Watch what happens after an embittered Basheera confronts and questions him as to why he even returned after 30 years--and the unexpected arrival of Ella and Annie.—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)
In the year 1976, five years after "East is East" in Salford, England. Little is known about most of the Jahangir Khan/George's children, except that they seldom communicate with their parents. Tariq (Jimi Mistry) is now a hippie (looking like George Harrison) who runs a new age shop with older brother Nazir and has an English girlfriend who is unaware of his true ethnicity.George runs a shop known as George's English Chippy. George serves English food such as pies and fish and chips in his shop, but business is not very good. Annie (Lesley Nicol) works for George at the shop.
Maneer (Emil Marwa) is living with his extended family in Pakistan where he is searching for a suitable wife. George remembers his days in Pakistan where he used to be a farmer.Sajid (Aqib Khan), the youngest who no longer wears a parka, is a truant who is constantly bullied due to his Pakistani background. His head is put in the toilet by the school bullies. George does not help matter by insisting to drop Sajid to school every day.Although the headmaster Jordan (Robert Pugh), a former British soldier who had served in the Punjab, is sympathetic and encourages him to embrace his heritage. Sajid runs out of school frequently to escape the bullies.After Sajid is caught shoplifting, his father George (Om Puri), who has somewhat retained his bullying nature, attacks him at home. Sajid retaliates by calling him a "dirty Paki bastard".
Ella tries to explain to George that Sajid is only influenced by the bullies at school. A devastated George states all of his other children in England have become British and he cannot lose Sajid as well. George believes that Sajid is completely out of touch with his background, culture and heritage.So, he decides to take him to Pakistan to meet his extended family and show him that life there is better, though Ella (Linda Bassett) openly disapproves.
On arriving in Pakistan, George and Sajid are greeted by a few of George's relatives including Tavnir (Vijay Raaz), a lazy man who often tries to swindle George-and is his son-in-law through his marriage to one of George's daughters Rehana (Sheeba Chaddha) with his first wife Basheera (Ila Arun). Tanvir lived in the UK for a year and worked at a mill in Bradford. The work was horrible and hence Tanvir returned to his life in Pakistan.Sajid is shocked to see the crowds in Pakistan. On the way from the airport, they casually pass an overturned truck which had killed a few people. Life had little value here.
On the family farm, George is reunited with Basheera and their daughters, whom he had abandoned thirty years before, and hands out gifts to all, then tells them that he has come for a month to find Maneer a wife.Rehana is openly hostile to George and cannot wait for him to go back to his life in England. The home has no proper toilet, as people defecate in the fields. The house is crumbling and has had no proper maintenance for decades. Despite the abandonment, Basheera presents herself to George for sex at night, and he turns her down, claiming that he is too tired.Basheera smacks Rehana for talking garbage about George and says that he can do whatever he wants. Sajid refuses to accept Basheera as his mother.
George soon discovers that no family will offer their daughter in marriage as they fear that Maneer will leave his wife for an English woman as his father George did when he left Basheera for Ella. Even George's friend refuses to give his daughter in marriage to Maneer. Furious, George blames his family in England, but Maneer reminds him that he himself is at fault, and Basheera is also angry with George for abandoning her when she needed him.The family believes that George will give all the land to his sons and nothing to his daughters.
When Tavnir explains to Sajid that he will not tolerate any trouble, he is abruptly told to "f**k off." Sajid is taken to the local school for enrollment, where he meets spiritual teacher Pir Naseem (Nadim Sawalha) and local boy Zaid (Raj Bhansali) who Sajid loathes at first and refuses to enroll. Zaid, who can speak basic English and is being taught by Pir Naseem, advises him, and the two soon become friends. Zaid teaches him Pakistani ways and Pir Naseem promises George that he will discipline his son when he misbehaves.Naseem takes Sajid to old ruins, including an old Hindu temple and helps him understand that rich culture and history of their country and civilization.
Sajid gradually appreciates his culture and new surroundings which pleases George, except that he is slightly jealous of the bond that develops between his son and Pir Naseem. Eventually Sajid meets Rochdale-born Pakistani woman Neelam (Zita Sattar), who bears a striking resemblance to Maneer's favorite singer Nana Mouskouri; like Maneer she is also looking for a spouse, and with her approval Sajid plans a meeting between the pair.
Meanwhile, Ella, who soon discovers that George has withdrawn the family savings to build a house for his family in Pakistan, travels to Pakistan with her best friend Annie (Lesley Nicol) in tow and is furious when she finds that her husband is building a house for his family. She also plans to take Sajid back to England with her and is shocked when her son refuses to leave.
During her stay there, Ella fights with Basheera and her daughters, and refuses to give them access to the new house, but upon realizing how alike they are the two put their differences aside and become friends. Maneer and Neelam soon marry, and George for the first time in years begins to appreciate Ella as a wife who stood by him during hard times.George and his England-based family return home and Sajid finally proud of his Asian background, whilst George's chippy now serves Pakistani-style kebabs.
