Om Puri - Inflexible PatriarchThe link above is to my latest article on my Selective Focus film blog. I review two British films that explore father-son relationships in the context of immigration and religious pressures. The films star Indian actor and icon Om Puri as the family patriarch - "East is East" and "My Son the Fanatic" are the movies discussed. Here's the first paragraph.
Following the birth of his second child, musician Don Henley penned the reflective ballad “Annabel” in her honor. He warns his daughter of life’s hazards but sagely acknowledges, “I know, in the end, you’ll be who you will be.” The two patriarchs portrayed by Om Puri in “My Son the Fanatic” (1997) and “East is East” (1999) lack the wisdom, and flexibility, to accept who their children have become. Although approaching fatherhood from widely divergent perspectives, both characters turn violent when their sons attempt to forge their own paths in life.
