"You can't start a fire without a spark …"
– Bruce Springsteen, Dancing in the Dark
I love music more than any other medium. That's right, even more than film. It fuels my every step, car ride, creative endeavor, and in the past, has given me the strength to overcome what I'd believed to be impossible at the time. I'm not the only person who feels this way. It's a fact that all around the world music enthusiasts are falling in love with new artists and bands on the regular. For me, bands like Failure, Rituals of Mine, LCD Soundsystem, and Daughter are on constant rotation as I pen articles for this website. I need music to feel, to breathe, and most importantly, to heal. It's an art that keeps on giving, and in Gurinder Chadha's BLINDED BY THE LIGHT, a young man finds courage, love, hope, and family through the music of Bruce Springsteen.
Written, directed, and produced by Chadha (BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM), BLINDED BY THE LIGHT 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 Bruce Springsteen, Javed sees parallels to his working-class life in the 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.
Interestingly enough, the film is inspired by a true story, based on Sarfraz Manzoor’s acclaimed memoir Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll. In addition to penning the film's source material, Manzoor will also write the script alongside Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges for the upcoming musically-charged drama.
Set to star in BLINDED BY THE LIGHT are Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Ganatra, Nell Williams, Aaron Phagura, Hayley Atwell and Dean-Charles Chapman. The story is underscored by the music and poetic lyrics of Springsteen, who gave Chadha his blessing from the film’s inception. Gurinder Chadha, Jane Barclay and Jamal Daniel produced the film, with Tory Metzger, Renee Witt, Peter Touche, Stephen Spence, Hannah Leader, Tracy Nurse, and Paul Mayeda Berges serving as executive producers.
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT will dance in the dark of theaters on August 14, 2019.
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