My Beautiful Laundrette

My Beautiful Laundrette is a 1985 British romantic comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi. The film was one of the first films released by Working Title Films. The film is set in London during the Thatcher years, as reflected in the complex, and often comical, relationships between members of the Pakistani and English communities. The story focuses on Omar, played by Gordon Warnecke, a young Pakistani man living in London, and his reunion and eventual romance with his childhood friend Johnny (played by Daniel Day-Lewis), now a street punk. The two become the caretakers and business managers of a launderette originally owned by Omar's uncle Nasser. The British Film Institute ranked My Beautiful Laundrette as the 50th greatest British film of the 20th century. The film was adapted into a stage play in 2002 and 2019. Plot Born in England, Omar Ali is a young Pakistani-British man living in South London during the mid-1980s. His father, Hussein, once a famous left-wing journalist in Pakistan, lives in London but dislikes Britain's society and its international politics. His dissatisfaction with the world and a family tragedy have led him to sink into alcoholism, and Omar has become his caregiver. By contrast, Omar's paternal uncle Nasser is a successful entrepreneur and an active member of London's Pakistani community. Hussein asks Nasser to give Omar a job. He works for a brief time as a car washer in one of his uncle's garages, and then is assigned to manage a run-down laundrette. At Nasser's, Omar meets a few other community members: Tania, Nasser's daughter and possibly a future bride; and Salim, who trafficks drugs and hires Omar to deliver them from the airport. While Omar is driving Salim and his wife home that night, the three are attacked by a group of right-wing extremist street punks. Their apparent leader turns out to be Johnny, Omar's childhood friend. Omar tries to reestablish their past friendship, offering Johnny a job and a chance for a better life by working with him to fix up the laundrette. Johnny decides to accept, and they resume a romantic relationship. Running out of money, Omar and Johnny sell one of Salim's drug deliveries to make cash for the laundrette's substantial renovation.