First look at Gurinder Chadha’s ‘Blinded by the Light’ as filming begins

Gurinder Chadha’s new comedy-drama ‘Blinded by the Light’ also features the music of Springsteen, find out more now!

Apr 11, 2018

2–3 minutes

Aaron Phagura, Bend It Films, Blinded by the Light, Bruce Springsteen, Greetings from Bury Park, Gurinder Chadha, Hayley Atwell, Indie Film, Kulvinder Ghir, Nell Williams, New Films, Rob Brydon, Sally Phillips, Sarfraz Manzoor, Viveik Kalra

We’re excited to hear that principal photography has begun on Gurinder Chadha‘s new comedy drama Blinded by the Light, with her new hybrid musical film that’s reportedly going to be an amalgamation of those now-classic British quirky comedies, with a definite hint of John Hughes and stars Aaron Phagura, Viveik Kalra, Nell Williams, Kulvinder Ghir, Hayley Atwell, Rob Brydon and Sally Phillips.

Blinded by the Light has been developed from Chadha’s and Brit journalist Sarfraz Manzoor’s shared passion for Bruce Springsteen and based on Manzoor’s celebrated rite of passage memoir Greetings from Bury Park, chronicles his experiences as a British Muslim boy growing up in 1980’s Luton and the impact Springsteen’s lyrics had upon him.

Cast from L to R is Aaron Phagura, Nell Williams and Viveik Kalra

Rather interestingly, and quite excitingly, Chadha and Manzoor met Springsteen at the London Premier of his film The Promise in 2010 and discovered he had not only read but admired the book, Chadha had this to say about the meeting:

“I quickly pitched him the film we wanted to make from the book on the Red carpet and to our excitement Bruce nodded and said, “Sounds good – talk to Jon”. We then spent several years developing a script we knew had to impress Springsteen and managers Jon Landau and Barbara Carr or there would be no film without his music and blessings.”

Manzoor added:

“Growing up in eighties Luton as the working class son of Pakistani Muslim immigrants my world felt very small. In the music of Bruce Springsteen I found both hope and wisdom on how I could transcend my circumstances and make my dreams to be a writer come true. The fact that I was so affected by Springsteen’s songs shows just how powerfully music can transcend race, religion, nationality and class. Blinded by the Light is also a tribute to my late father whom I often fought in my teenage years not realising his generation also had dreams they were not able to follow.”