BLINDED BY THE LIGHT

Review: A British drama, set in 1987 during the days of Thatcher’s Britain. Javed learns to live life, understand his family and discovers a passion for Bruce Springsteen.
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Actors: Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Ganatra, Aaron Phagura, Dean-Charles Chapman, Nikita Mehta, Nell Williams, Tara Divina, Rob Brydon, Frankie Fox, Hayley Atwell, Sally Phillips, Sofia Abbasi, Asheq Akhtar, Vincent Andriano and David Hayman
Year: 2019
Genre: Comedy, Drama and Music
Conclusion: 3/5
A typical feel good film. Very entertaining and watchable. Obviously the director had to have permission from Bruce Springsteen to get this film made and apparently he has been very supportive of the film. I personally have never been a huge fan of Springsteen but thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this film. The last film that Gurinder Chadha directed was Viceroy’s House (2017). This is Viveik Kalra’s first feature length film and I would love to see him go on and do more acting. David Hayman is in this but doesn’t have much to do, although he plays his part very convincingly. One thing I did like was that there were occasions when some of the lyrics came on the screen. I did think this was good as I felt I could relate to the songs more and get to know their real meaning. It suddenly all came alive. At that point also the lyrics became powerful. I also thought that the scenes with father and son were done very sincerely. It is possible to look at the father and son relationship from both sides of their story. Good performances from both of the parents. Hard to believe looking back on the 1980’s at just how tough the times were and just how much everyone suffered. Some of the themes that occur in this are racism, loneliness and unemployment. I enjoyed that little cameos by Rob Brydon and Sally Phillips.