Blinded By the Light

Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview BLINDED BY THE LIGHT – Co-writer/director Gurinder Chadha (“Bend It Like Beckham”)

 I’ve always said I’m not a fan of Bruce Springsteen’s music. I think growing up in the 80’s I just felt like a white, blue collar icon wasn’t about me, so I didn’t pay much attention to his songs; although, you’d have to have been living under a pop-culture rock not to have seen a pre-Friends, short locks, Courtney Cox being pulled up on stage by “The Boss” for the “Dancing in the Dark” music video.

But now, like the previous movie musicals of 2019 “Yesterday”, which celebrates the music of the Beatles and “Rocketman” a love letter to Elton John from Elton John, I find myself having a renewed interest and love of these artists by seeing and hearing their songs again through stories on the big screen.

I was lucky enough to attend a Q & A with “Blinded By the Light” director Gurinder Chadha, writer Sarfraz Manzoor, whose book, “Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll,” (2007) inspired the screenplay and cast members: Viveik Kalra & Aaron Phagura.

The Philly Q&A took place the day after the film premiered in Asbury Park NJ, where Springsteen himself showed up and surprised everyone with a concert, so they were all both exhausted and feeling euphoric over the momentum of the film.

I asked Sarfraz how does he feel now that his biggest dream has come to fruition, is there a sense of what’s now left to do? Also, at one part in the video we see Viveik’s reaction when a microphone feedback boom sounded exactly like gunfire, it’s both humorous and frighteningly unfunny considering if feels as if no place is safe anymore.  See Q&A below.

The year is 1987, and Javed (Viveik Kalra) a Pakistani in his senior year of high school, spends the majority of his time writing poetry and journaling about growing up in the factory town of Luton UK. His overbearing father (Kulvinder Ghir) just got laid off from the Vauxhall plant and jobs are scarce, a deep unemployment has set in; he feels it’s important to push Javed towards a safe career and away from “All this writing nonsense”.  In the mist of Javed’s coming of age confusion, longing and frustrations, a fellow Muslim at school Roops (Aaron Phagura) introduces him to the music of Bruce Springsteen, and suddenly it’s as if he’s found religion. The fact that Springsteen comes from a continent away, from a completely different culture matters not, the music and lyrics speak to Javed like nothing else he’s experienced, and he becomes obsessed with the American rocker.

#BlindedByTheLight blends indie coming of age, movie musical, social commentary and personal essay in a way that’s wonderfully engaging for Springsteen fans and non-fans, UK, US and any creed or nationality.

T&T the Large Association of Movie Blogs (aka the LAMb) rating 4 outta 5

Click Images to Englarge