New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) - Blinded by the Light

Blinded By The Light
2019 | United Kingdom | 114 mins | English
Directed by – Gurinder Chadha
Cast - Viveik Kalra, Hayley Atwell, Rob Brydon, Kulvinder Ghir, Nell Williams, Dean-Charles Chapman, Aaron Phagura

Synopsis: New Line Cinema’s “Blinded by the Light” is a joyful story of courage, love, hope, family and the unique ability of music to lift the human spirit. The film tells the story of Javed (Viveik Kalra) a British teen of Pakistani descent, growing up in the town of Luton, England, in 1987. Amidst the racial and economic turmoil of the times, he writes poetry as a means to escape the intolerance of his hometown and the inflexibility of his traditional father. But when a classmate introduces him to the music of “The Boss,” Javed sees parallels to his working-class life in Springsteen’s powerful lyrics. As Javed discovers a cathartic outlet for his own pent-up dreams, he also begins to find the courage to express himself in his own unique voice.

Based on Sarfraz Manzoor’s acclaimed memoir Greetings from Bury Park, “Blinded by the Light” was directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Sarfraz Manzoor, Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges. Chadha also produced the film together with Jane Barclay and Jamal Daniel. Paul Mayeda Berges, Hannah Leader, Tory Metzger, Tracy Nurse, Stephen Spence, Peter Touche and Renee Witt served as executive producers. The story is underscored by the music and poetic lyrics of Springsteen, who gave Chadha his blessing from the film’s inception. A New Line Cinema presentation, “Blinded by the Light” will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and is slated to open on August 14, 2019.

Director: GURINDER CHADHA directed, co-wrote and produced BLINDED BY THE LIGHT. Chadha is one of the U.K.’s most proven and respected filmmakers whose award-winning films have earned over $300 million at the international box office. The British Film Institute’s recent filmography study on British Cinema history named Chadha as the U.K’s most prolific female director working today.

She began her career as a broadcast journalist for BBC News and moved into directing with her first documentary I’M BRITISH BUT…. for Channel 4 and the BFI in 1989 and subsequently made several award-winning documentaries for BFI, BBC and Channel 4.

Chadha directed her first short film, NICE ARRANGEMENT, in 1990. Her first feature, the landmark comedy-drama BHAJI ON THE BEACH, which centred on the experiences of a group of Asian women from three generations on a day trip to Blackpool, received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best British Film and the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Newcomer to British Cinema.

Chadha’s next feature, WHAT’S COOKING?, a comedy-drama that tells the story of four different families (Hispanic, Vietnamese, African -American and Jewish) all preparing for Thanksgiving Dinner, was the Opening Night Film of the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and was the first British script to be invited to the Sundance Institute’s Writer’s Lab. The film was voted joint Audience Award winner in the New York Film Critics’ 2000 season (tied with Billy Elliott).

Her next film, BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, was the highest-grossing British-financed, British-distributed film ever at the UK box office (at time of release) and topped box office charts internationally. The film received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture - Musical or Comedy, a BAFTA Award nomination for Best British Film, a European Film Academy nomination for Best Film, and a Writers Guild of America nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Her other hit films include BRIDE & PREJUDICE – a film that marries Jane Austen with Indian and Western musicals – which was the first film ever to open at #1 in the UK and India on the same day; ANGUS, THONGS AND PERFECT SNOGGING, based on the international bestseller which was released worldwide in 2008/2009; IT’S A WONDERFUL AFTERLIFE, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival before releasing internationally in 2010; and VICEROY'S HOUSE, an epic drama on Indian Independence and Partition, starring Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson, Manish Dayal and Huma Qureshi. The film, which made its world premiere at the 2017 Berlin Film Festival, received critical acclaim and achieved global box-office success.

In 2015, Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges mounted the stage musical version of BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM in London’s West End to five-star reviews and critics’ awards.
Chadha’s TV company, Bend It TV, recently joined forces with international sales and distribution company Fremantle Media to create diverse scripted and non-scripted TV content. Bend It TV currently has commissions for returning drama series with Sky Atlantic, BBC Drama and ITV.

Chadha is chair of Bend It Networks, a content creation company she co-founded with Paul Mayeda Berges, which develops multicultural stories for international audiences across Film, TV, Stage & Digital.

Chadha has received several Honorary Doctorates from British Universities and was awarded an O.B.E. in the 2006 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her services to the British Film Industry. She is an active patron of numerous charities, including MAF (Medical Aid Films), is a Creative Mentor and Role Model for Creative Access, Directors UK INSPIRE, the BFI and the Sundance Directors’ Lab. and Patron of Women in Film UK.

Social Media Handles:
https://twitter.com/BBTLmovie

Reviews:
https://variety.com/2019/film/reviews/blinded-by-the-light-review-1203119930/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/blinded-by-light-review-1180066
https://www.thewrap.com/blinded-by-the-light-film-review-joyous-i