Picking the songs was quite a forensic task. “We tried to make the music work for our story rather than exploit it. Worried about adding Bruce’s music to the film, Chadha was encouraged by the Springsteen camp to begin writing the screenplay and ‘something would be figured out,’ given the film’s modest budget. screening of The Promise,” the documentary about the making of “Darkness on the Edge of Town.” Now it promises to be the veteran director’s biggest crossover hit since “Bend It Like Beckham,” which introduced Keira Knightley to the screen. It took almost a decade from Chadha’s chance meeting with Springsteen, who gave his thumbs-up to the book after a 2010 U.K.
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Likewise, Chadha is a huge Springsteen fan, who pursued her dream of making a movie about The Boss’ music based on the true-life memoir of co-writer (and fellow diehard) Sarfraz Manzoor. It serves as a poignant parallel to the xenophobia of today.
For that reason, the 59-year-old’s movies has always dealt with the immigrant experience, and her latest is no different, telling the story of a Muslim Pakistani teenager growing up in Thatcher’s England whose narrowly structured life is saved when he’s turned on to the music of Bruce Springsteen during the late ‘80s National Front/dole queue era.
Born in Kenya when the country was a British colony, she grew up part of the Indian/Asian diaspora who made their way from East Africa to London. Blinded by the Light co-writer/director Gurinder Chadha knows firsthand what it feels like to be an outsider.