Although people haven’t necessarily been clamoring for a sequel to East Is East, it’s still good news that a follow-up to the 1999 Brit hit is in the works and is now so far advanced that it’s been announced that filming will begin next month.
Once again written by Ayub Khan-Din, who based the original on his own experience of growing up in a mixed race family, the sequel, West Is West, will move things forward five years to 1985, with George Khan trying to move his family to Pakistan, in order to instil a bit of the discipline of his homeland in his wayward 13-year-old son, Sajid. The film will reuinite most of the original cast, including Om Puri as George, Linda Bassett as his English wife, as well as Jimi Mistry and Emil Marwil as their older two sons, while Aquib Khan will be joining as Sajid.
Although it’s a bit of a surprise that this has taken 10-years to get the point where it’s ready to go in front of the cameras, it’s still good news, as if they can recapture the gentle humour and heart of the original, it could be great.