Blinded by the Light [Blu-ray]

Director: Gurinder Chadha Gurinder Chadha

Overview

Directed Gurinder Chadha's cross-cultural dramedy is an adaptation of journalist Sarfraz Manzoor's 2007 memoir "Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N' Roll." A second-generation British-Pakistani teenager comes of age in a small town during the Thatcher era, rebelling against parental and cultural expectations with the help of Bruce Springsteen's music.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/19/2019
UPC:	0883929693849
Original Release:	2019
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	New Line Home Video
Language:	English
Time:	1:58:00
Sales rank:	40,421

Special Features

Behind the scenes: The true story behind the film; Making-of featurette; Deleted scenes

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Billy Barratt	Actor
Ronak Singh Chadha Berges	Actor
Viveik Kalra	Javed
Lee Barnett	Foreman,Actor
Kulvinder Ghir	Malik
Meera Ganatra	Noor
Nell Williams	Eliza
Aaron Phagura	Roops
Hayley Atwell	Ms Clay
Dean-Charles Chapman	Charles Chapman-Matt
David Hayman	Mr. Evans
Ronak Chadha Berges	Javed (10),Lilly
Kit Reeve	Emma
Nikita Mehta	Shazia (Sister)
Rob Brydon	Matt's Dad
Lorraine Ashbourne	Kathy
Tara Divina	Yasmeen (Cousin)
Jeff Mirza	Mr. Shah
Abigail Carter-Simpson	Waitress
Frankie Fox	Colin Hand
Scott Folan	Alan
Abigail Carter	Simpson-Waitress
Joshua Grant	Lad 1
Tom Stocks	Lad 2
Marcus Brigstocke	Robert - Eliza's Dad
Olivia Poulet	Frances - Eliza's Mom
Leo Shirley	Alex
Sally Phillips	Mrs. Anderson
Daniella Bowen	Reporter At Mosque
James Ballanger	Passport Official
Vincent Andriano	Billy
Kriss Dosanjh	Mr. Singh
A.R. Rahman	Composer
Asheq Akhtar	Butcher
Raj Awasti	Luton Herald Newspaper Reporter
Paul Blackwell	Nf March Goer
Lee Byford	NF Supporter
Amer Chadha-Patel	DJ
Jonno Davies	Michael

Technical Credits

Gurinder Chadha

Paul Mayeda Berges

Sarfraz Manzoor

Gurinder Chadha	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
Jane Barclay	Producer
Jamal Daniel	Producer
Paul Mayeda Berges	Screenwriter,Executive Producer
Sarfraz Manzoor	Screenwriter
Peter Touche	Executive Producer,Producer
Tory Metzger	Executive Producer,Producer
Stephen Spence	Executive Producer
Renee Witt	Executive Producer,Producer
Tracy Nurse	Executive Producer,Producer
Hannah Leader	Executive Producer,Producer
Glenn Freemantle	Sound/Sound Designer
Mark Heslop	Sound/Sound Designer
Kirsty Kinnear	Casting
Susie Figgis	Casting
Abbi Collins	Stunts
Chris Reynolds	Special Effects Supervisor
Roy Taylor	Stunts

Editorial Reviews

Blinded By The Light is an ode to Bruce Springsteen and a heartbreakingly sweet coming-of-age story all rolled into one. Set in 1980's Britain, all-American music blends with Bollywood style cinema, providing a unique blend for a familiar tale of a young boy trying to find his way in life. Director Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham) has taken material that, in the wrong hands, could easily have proven trite, and created a character-driven, emotional map of teen angst. Blinded By The Light is loosely based on the memoir, "Greetings From Bury Park, by British journalist Sarfraz Manzoor. Javed (Viveik Kalra) is a Pakistani immigrant living in the Bury Park neighborhood of Luton, a small town north of London, in 1987. Aside from normal, teenage pubertal problems, his woes include poverty, a stifled religious household, and racial discrimination. His loving though oppressive father, Malik (Kulvinder Ghir), is stuck in the old ways and expects young Javed to play his narrow, preordained role in the family life, despite a new set of rules their circumstances present them. When he loses his blue-collar auto plant job, tensions rise, and the stakes increase. Amidst the challenges of school, Javed meets a politically active, beautiful, young woman named Eliza (Nell Williams) and pursues his passion for creative writing with an encouraging teacher, Ms. Clay (Hayley Atwell). He also meets a fellow Pakistani named Roops (Aaron Phagura) who comes from New Jersey and introduces Javed to Bruce Springsteen via cassette tapes. Listening to "The Boss" changes Javed's life, both metaphorically and literally, as the words start to appear on buildings around him. While the music speaks to him and his problems, it also serves to liberate him and allows him the creative freedom to come up with his own original writing that he's so focused on. Javed and his family constantly face threats, particularly in the form of racial violence and threats from xenophobic thugs who inhabit their small town; Malik, not immune to racial insults, often refers to Springsteen as a "Jewish singer" in a derogatory way. Not so thrilled about his son's discovery, Malik wants Javed to come to terms with what it's really like for their family to survive in this new world. The racial tension that these Pakistanis faced back then not only stands the test of time, but it puts a clearer perspective on current racial tension found in various regions around the world. Overall, Blinded By The Light is a satisfying story with a big heart. Whatever it lacks in punch, it packs in pinches of real life that paint a larger picture of what it's like to be an outsider to everyone around you, and then ultimately find yourself. The decision to watch it is a no-brainer for Springsteen fans and likely to be a pleasant surprise for those less committed to his cause.