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 (despite her being Omar's cousin); 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 re-establish 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. One night Omar confronts Johnny about his right-wing past. The lover says that although he cannot make up for that, he is with Omar now. Nasser visits the laundrette with his mistress, Rachel. As they dance together in the laundrette, Omar and Johnny have sex in the back room, narrowly escaping discovery. At the inauguration of the laundrette, Tania confronts Rachel about having an affair with her father. Rachel accuses Nasser of having invited Tania in order to have her insulted, and storms off despite his protests. Later that night, a drunk Omar proposes to his cousin Tania, who accepts on the condition that he raise money to get away. Soon after, Salim reveals to Omar that he is on to the two young men, and demands his money back from the drug sale. Omar's father stops by late in the night and appeals to Johnny to persuade Omar to go to college, because he is unhappy with his son's role. Offering Salim a chance to invest in his businesses as a much needed 'clean outlet' for his money, Omar decides to take over two laundrettes owned by a friend of Nasser. Salim drives Johnny and Omar to view one of the properties, and he expresses his dislike of the British non-working punks in Johnny's gang. He attempts to run them over and injures one of them. Tania drops by the laundrette and tells Johnny she is leaving, asking him to come along. He refuses, implying the truth about his relationship with Omar, and she departs wordlessly. Rachel falls ill with a skin rash apparently caused by a ritual curse from Nasser's wife, and decides it is best for all that she and Nasser part ways. After Salim arrives and enters the laundrette, the punks, who had been lying in wait, trash his car. When he runs out, he is ambushed and viciously attacked. Johnny goes out to defend him, despite their mutual dislike, and the punks attack him in turn. He refuses to fight back, and they beat him savagely until Omar returns and intervenes. He protects Johnny as the punks smash the window of the laundrette and flee. Nasser visits Hussein, and the two fathers discuss their respective failures, agreeing between them that only Omar's future matters now. Nasser sees Tania at the train platform while she is running away, and he shouts to her but she disappears. Meanwhile, at the laundrette, Omar cares for Johnny. The film ends with a scene of them shirtless and playfully splashing each other with water from a sink. ==Cast==