FOR a "darkly comic" love story, there were no laughs for me in PS, formerly known as Paki Slag.

Film maker Navdeep Singh Kandola shows us drugs, violence and bitter racial divides on the council estates of Kirklees.

Only the most naive of viewers, who never reads the news, would be shocked by scenes of gangs, fighting and the odd gun.

The term "Paki slag" is a harsh slang term for a white girl who goes out with an Asian boy. Police - not wanting to stir up extra tension unnecessarily - understandably asked Navdeep to rein in his exuberance, just a bit.

We all know relations between some sections of the white and Asian communities in north Kirklees are pretty strained as they are.

Exposing the worst elements of youth culture like this won't do anyone any good. It enforces stereotypes that we're desperately trying to move away from. At worst, it's irresponsible.

Both sides in this divide are portrayed as equally vicious and bigoted.

Racist whites complain about Asians "coming over here and s******g our women" while Pakistani boys pester a white girl they deem to be fair game.

The whole picture is one of a grim stand-off between white and Asian youths, without hope of any new dawn of common ground or understanding.

Which I suspect is mightily unfair for the majority of young people in Mirfield and Ravensthorpe, who get along and for whom skin colour is simply not a consideration.

Having said all this, as a piece of art, it's not at all bad.

Filmed last summer around Mirfield and Ravensthorpe, there's plenty of gorgeous evening sunshine, even the odd artily-shot meadow.

There's a tidy soundtrack, too, to this doomed love story with more than a fleeting nod to Romeo and Juliet.

Kandola recruited actors and crew members locally, and you can tell they threw themselves into the project, and learned loads in the process.

On this basis, it's a good enough effort in the gritty tradition of Pawel Pawlikowski's Twockers and Penny Woolcock's Tina Goes Shopping - unflinching West Yorkshire wonders, about real life on our estates.

But if Navdeep thinks it could generate enlightenment among any thicko bigots who happen to see it, he's kidding himself. They'll miss the point and just smirk in recognition.

The premier is at London's Renoir Cinema in Russell Square on April 28. No local screenings have been announced yet.