My Beautiful Laundrette

My Beautiful Laundrette is a 1985 film directed by Stephen Frears. The screenplay was written by Hanif Kureishi.

Plot

Omar is the ambitious son of a Pakistani journalist who lives in London but hates England and its international politics. By contrast, his brother Nasser is a successful entrepreneur and an active member of the London Asian community. Omar asks his uncle for a job and, after working for a brief time as a car washer in one of his garages, is assigned the task of running a run-down launderette and turning it into a profitable business.

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Omar's car is attacked by a group of right-wing extremists shouting racist slogans: amongst them he recognizes an old friend of his, Johnny, whom he had been trying to invite into the launderette business. Johnny agrees to help Omar, and they resume a love affair which had been interrupted after school.

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At Nasser's, Omar meets a few other members of the Pakistani community: Tanya, his daughter and possibly a future bride; and Salim, who traffics cocaine and hires him to deliver the drug from the airport. Running out of money, Omar and Johnny sell off one of Salim's deliveries to make cash for the launderette redecoration.

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The launderette becomes a success. At the opening day, Nasser visits the store with his mistress, Rachel. She later falls ill with a skin rash apparently caused by his wife's magical powers, and decides to leave him. Tanya drops by and asks Johnny to go away with her; he refuses, and she departs alone. Johnny's former friends also appear and engage him in a fight. He is saved by Omar, who then helps him clean up as the film draws to an end. Nasser sees Tanya at a train platform whilst she is running away.

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