"Actor: Saeed Jaffrey"

• Gandhi | DVD | (04/07/2011) from £5.25   |  Saving you £0.74 (14.10%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Gandhi is a great subject, but is Gandhi a great film? Undoubtedly it is, not least because it is one of the last old-school epics ever made, a glorious visual treat featuring tens of thousands of extras (real people, not digital effects) and sumptuous Panavision cinematography. But a true epic is about more than just widescreen photography, it concerns itself with noble subjects too, and the life story of Mahatma Gandhi is one of the noblest of all. Both the man and the film have profound things to say about the meaning of freedom and racial harmony, as well as how to achieve them. Ben Kingsley, in his first major screen role, bears the heavy responsibility of the central performance and carries it off magnificently; without his magnetic and utterly convincing portrayal the film would founder in the very first scene. Sir Richard Attenborough surrounds his main character with a cast of distinguished thespians (Trevor Howard, John Mills, John Gielgud and Martin Sheen, to name but four), none of whom do anything but provide the most sympathetic support. John Briley's literate screenplay achieves the almost impossible task of distilling the bewildering complexities of Anglo-Indian politics. Attenborough's treatment is openly reverential, but, given the saint-like character of his subject, it's hard to see how it could have been anything else. He doesn't flinch from the implication that the Mahatma was naïve to expect a unified India, for example, but instead lets Gandhi's actions speak for themselves. The outstanding achievement of this labour of love is that it tells the story of an avowed pacifist who never raised a hand in anger, of a man who never held high office, of a man who shied away from publicity, and turns it into three hours of utterly mesmerising cinema.On the DVD: The anamorphic (16:9) picture of the original 2.35:1 image has a certain softness to it that may reflect the age of the print, but somehow seems entirely in keeping with the subject . Sound is Dolby 5.1. The extras are fairly brief, but worthwhile: original newsreel footage of Gandhi includes an astonishingly patronising British news account of his visit to England; in a recent interview, Ben Kinglsey chats enthusiastically about the film and the difficulties he experienced bringing the character to life. The dull "making-of" feature is simply a montage of stills. --Mark Walker

• The Jewel In The Crown - Complete Series - 25th Anniversary Edition | DVD | (24/08/2009) from £13.22   |  Saving you £16.77 (126.85%)   |  RRP £29.99

  A lavish 25th Anniversary edition of the seminal Jewel In The Crown'TV miniseries adapted from Paul Scott's Booker-winning 'Raj Quartet' novels. The British Raj: though their position outwardly seems secure the perceptive among the English nationals in India know that with impending moves towards independence their time in the sub-continent is coming to an end...

• The Man Who Would Be King | DVD | (17/05/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.99

  A grandly entertaining, old-fashioned adventure based on the Rudyard Kipling short story, The Man Who Would Be King is the kind of rousing epic about which people said, even in 1975, "Wow! They don't make 'em like that anymore". When director John Huston first started trying to make the film, with Gable and Bogart, the project was derailed by the latter's death. It was a few decades before Huston was finally able to realise his dream movie--and with an unimprovable cast. Sean Connery and Michael Caine are, respectively, Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnahan, a pair of lovably roguish British soldiers who set out to make their fortunes by conning the priests of remote Kafiristan into making them kings. It's a rollicking tale, an epic satire of imperialism, and the good-natured repartee shared by Caine and Connery is pure gold. Huston lets the humour emerge naturally from the characters, for whom we wind up caring more deeply than we ever expected. --Jim Emerson

• My Beautiful Laundrette | DVD | (17/03/2008) from £4.98   |  Saving you £13.00 (434.78%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Set within the Asian community in London My Beautiful Launderette is an unusual love story concerned with identity and entrepreneurial spirit during the Thatcher years. Omar (Gordon Warnecke) takes over the running of his wheeler-dealer uncle's launderette with the intention of turning it into a glittering place of commercial success. When he employs childhood friend and ex-National Front member Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis) they become lovers as well as working partners. However complications soon ensue as the anger of Johnny's deserted gang begins to build and Omar is forced to face increasingly difficult family issues.

• Gandhi | DVD | (12/02/2007) from £13.00   |  Saving you £2.99 (23.00%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Richard Attenborough's award-winning epic recounts the life and times of Mahatma Gandhi. In South Africa a young Indian lawyer is booted off a train for refusing to ride second-class. Upon his return to his native India and fed up with the unjust political system he joins the Indian Congress Party which encourages social change through passive resistance. When his ""subversive"" activities land him in jail masses of low-skilled workers strike to support his non-violent yet revolutionary position. Back in India Gandhi renounces the Western way of life and struggles to organize Indian labor against British colonialism. A strike costs many British soldiers their lives so the crown responds by slaughtering 1 500 Indians. Enraged the ascetic spiritual leader continues to preach pacifism until he has lead India out from under the tyranny of British imperialism.

• My Beautiful Laundrette (DVD + Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (21/08/2017) from £8.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In case you'd forgotten, My Beautiful Laundrette will remind you of those mid-80s days when Thatcherism ruled the earth (or so it seemed) and money was king. Stephen Frears' low-budget realisation of Hanif Kureishi's subversively critical play captures the contradictions of that time in a way that's as fresh today as when it was new. Omar's wheeler-dealer uncle, Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey), sums it up when he says, "In this damn country, which we hate and love, you can get anything you want". He sets up Omar (Gordon Warnecke) with a rundown laundrette and the instruction to make it a success, which Omar temporarily does, with the help of his childhood friend Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis). When the film first came out, it was the gay content that dominated the column inches, whereas now it seems a sensitive and multi-faceted summation of its decade, exploring social, ethnic and sexual issues and contradictions. Bringing together two such different characters as Omar--Asian, ambitious, for whom success is defined by wealth--and former childhood friend Johnny--white trash, ex-National Front--was inspired. Watching their friendship develop into love, and the ensuing bitterness and misunderstanding that they suffer from friends and family is very poignant. All the lead roles are well taken, the contradictory character of Nasser in particular. By turns, funny, touching and anger-inducing, this is a movie that wears its age lightly and its era proudly. On the DVD: the picture is in 4:3 ratio with a Dolby Digital soundtrack. There's an original trailer and filmographies of the four main characters, with an additional biography for Day-Lewis. --Harriet Smith

• A Passage To India | DVD | (31/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A Passage to India, David Lean's adaptation of EM Forster's mysterious tale of racism in colonial India, turned out to be the master director's final film. Subtle and grand at the same time, Lean's adaptation is faithful to the book, rendering its blend of the mystical and the all-too human with exquisite precision. Judy Davis plays a young British woman travelling in India with her fiancé's mother. While visiting a tourist attraction, she has a frightening moment in a cave--one that she eventually spins from an instant of mental meltdown into a tale of a physical attack that ruins several lives. Lean captures Forster's sense of awe at the kind of ageless wisdom and inexplicable phenomena to be encountered in India, as well as the British tendency to dismiss it all as savage, rather than simply different. --Marshall Fine

• The Far Pavilions | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Ash (Ben Cross) and Anjuli (Amy Irving) are two star-crossed lovers caught up in this passionate and haunting love story. Based on the best selling novel by M. M. Kaye The Far Pavilions is set in the India of the British Raj at the end of the 19th Century against the spectacular and epic sweep of battle treachery and intrigue. An all star cast including Omar Sharif Sir John Gielgud Christopher Lee Rossano Brazzi Robert Hardy Saeed Jaffery and Rupert Everett feature in

• Gangsters - The Complete Series | DVD | (24/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Emerging from the Play for Today anthology series in 1975 Philip Martin's near two-hour-length play Gangsters proved so popular that a series was commissioned and followed eighteen months later. Following the lead of such gritty cop dramas as The Sweeney Gangsters revealed a world of racial segregation and ghettos in the style of American television; and it didn't hold back on the violence or bad language either. Former SAS officer John Kline (Maurice C

• A Passage to India | DVD | (06/05/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  From the acclaimed director of Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and The Bridge on the River Kwai, A Passage To India was Sir David Lean's last ever feature film and a winner of two Oscars®.

• The Horsemen | Blu Ray | (30/10/2023) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  TBC

• Tales Of The Unexpected - The Complete Second Series | DVD | (24/07/2006) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-6.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Roald Dahl's chillingly brilliant antholgy series Tales of the Unexpected makes an expected return to DVD. Featuring all the episodes from series 2. Episodes Comprise: 1. Royal Jelly 2. Skin 3. Galloping Foxley 4. The Hitch-hiker 5. Poison 6. Fat Chance 7. Taste 8. My Lady Love My Dove 9. Georgy Porgy 10. Depart in Peace 11. The Umbrella Man 12. Genesis and Catastrophe 13. Mr Botibol's First Love 14. Back for Christmas 15. The Orderly World of Mr Appleby 16. The Man at the Top

• Just Ask For Diamond | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

• A Passage To India | Blu Ray | (26/09/2022) from £11.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Enter a world where cultures clash so violently that an entire country could split at any moment. Nominated for eleven Academy Awards® and winner of two, A Passage to India is a wonderfully provocative tale, full of vivid characters, all played to near perfection. With a fabulous cast that include Peggy Ashcroft, Judy Davis, James Fox, Sir Alec Guinness, and Nigel Havers, this hauntingly beautiful film is a daring triumph. When liberal-minded English ladies Mrs. Moore (Ashcroft) and Adela Quested (Davis) arrive in India, they're shocked by the extreme racial prejudice that exists here. Fortunately, kind Dr. Aziz (Victor Banerjee) rises above the intolerance and guides the women on a splendid tour of the mysterious Marabar caves. But the outing turns tragic when Adela suddenly comes running from one of the caves-scratched, bleeding and terribly frightened. News of the incident quickly spreads across the whole of India...igniting a powder keg of tension just waiting to explode. A rich tapestry woven of the clash between cultures, A Passage to India is supreme entertainment, and a visual wonder that is truly spellbinding!

• Two's Company - The Complete First Series | DVD | (31/10/2005) from £5.04   |  Saving you £7.95 (157.74%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Dorothy McNab a prickly American authoress moves into a Chelsea flat in London. Needing domestic help she employs Robert Hiller a quintessential 'Gentleman's Gentleman' and it's not long before sparks fly when New Money clashes with the Old School Tie... Episodes comprise: 1. The Bait 2. The Housekeeping 3. Dorothy's Electrician 4. The Patient 5. The Romance 6. Robert's Mother

• Tandoori Nights | DVD | (24/10/2016) from £5.94   |  Saving you £14.05 (236.53%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Saeed Jaffrey (My Beautiful Laundrette) stars in this spicy, groundbreaking Channel 4 comedy about an embattled curry house owner and his wayward family.

• The Man Who Would Be King | DVD | (27/08/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Sean Connery and Michael Caine- chins out shoulders squared and with a sly wink- stars as British sergeants Danny Dravot and Peachy Carnehan. The Empire was built by men like these two. Now they're out to build their own empire venturing into remote Kafiristan to become rich as kings.

• My Beautiful Laundrette | DVD | (10/09/2001) from £10.43   |  Saving you £-0.44 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In case you'd forgotten, My Beautiful Laundrette will remind you of those mid-80s days when Thatcherism ruled the earth (or so it seemed) and money was king. Stephen Frears' low-budget realisation of Hanif Kureishi's subversively critical play captures the contradictions of that time in a way that's as fresh today as when it was new. Omar's wheeler-dealer uncle, Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey), sums it up when he says, "In this damn country, which we hate and love, you can get anything you want". He sets up Omar (Gordon Warnecke) with a rundown laundrette and the instruction to make it a success, which Omar temporarily does, with the help of his childhood friend Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis). When the film first came out, it was the gay content that dominated the column inches, whereas now it seems a sensitive and multi-faceted summation of its decade, exploring social, ethnic and sexual issues and contradictions. Bringing together two such different characters as Omar--Asian, ambitious, for whom success is defined by wealth--and former childhood friend Johnny--white trash, ex-National Front--was inspired. Watching their friendship develop into love, and the ensuing bitterness and misunderstanding that they suffer from friends and family is very poignant. All the lead roles are well taken, the contradictory character of Nasser in particular. By turns, funny, touching and anger-inducing, this is a movie that wears its age lightly and its era proudly. On the DVD: the picture is in 4:3 ratio with a Dolby Digital soundtrack. There's an original trailer and filmographies of the four main characters, with an additional biography for Day-Lewis. --Harriet Smith

• Merchant-Ivory Connoisseur Collection | DVD | (25/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  Maurice Maurice Hall and Clive Durham find themselves falling in love at Cambridge. In a time when homosexuality was punishable by imprisonment, the two must keep their feelings for one another a complete secret. After a friend is arrested and disgraced for 'the unspeakable vice of the Greeks', Clive abandons his forbidden love and marries a young woman. Maurice however, struggles with questions of his identity and self-confidence, seeking the help of a hypnotist to rid himself of his ...

• The Chess Player | DVD | (25/06/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In Satyajit Ray's satirical look at life in Imperial era India two wealthy men indulge in a game of chess to the exclusion of everything else...