<span>More than 17 years after the release of her hit movie </span><span><em>Bend </em></span><span><em>It Like Beckham</em></span><span>, filmmaker Gurinder Chadha says </span><span>she continues to be approached by members of </span><span>Britain's South Asian community </span><span>who ask her to make the</span><span> film "over and over again".</span><span> The </span><span>story follows a British</span><span>-Indian girl who can kick a ball like </span><span>David Beckham, an England international at the time, and reached a global audience, </span><span>even becoming the only movie made in the West to be </span><span>screened in North Korea. It's not a bad achievement for a film that almost </span><span>wasn't made because one of the project's </span><span>key funders </span><span>did not think the storyline was realistic.</span> <span>While Chadha admits that her </span><span>latest film, </span><span><em>Blinded by the Light</em></span><span>, a musical about a Pakistani teenager </span><span>obsessed with Bruce Springsteen, is probably not the kind of movie </span><span><em>Bend It Like Beckham</em></span><span> fans ha</span><span>d in mind</span><span>, both </span><span>feature characters who fight to fulfil their dreams against the odds.</span><span> </span> <br/> <span><em>Blinded </em></span><span><em>by </em></span><span><em>the Light</em></span><span> is an </span><span>adaptation of British-Pakistani journalist Sarfraz Manzoor's memoir </span><span><em>Greetings from Bury Park</em></span><span>. The </span><span>protagonist is </span><span>Javed, 16, who lives in Luton</span><span>, </span><span>a large town north of London</span><span> portrayed as scarred by racism and unemployment. On a societal level, Javed, his family, his Asian friends and Asian family friends all have to deal with the physical and emotional violence of racism on a regular basis and are subject to the message that they don't belong in Britain. </span> <span>On a family level, this is reinforced by Javed's father, who tells him they are Pakistani and will never be accepted. Navigating both of these worlds </span><span>affects </span><span>Javed's spirit</span><span> and he despairs that he will be unable to fulfil his dreams, but after being introduced to Bruce Springsteen's music by a boy at college, Javed's life changes. He finds a sense of purpose and connection with </span><span>the American musician's lyrics, becomes more confident and is inspired to pursue his passion for writing.</span> <span>Chadha says her love for Springsteen was one of the key reasons she wanted to turn Manzoor's story into a film. S</span><span>he has been a huge fan of the rock star since</span><span> being introduced to his music by a colleague at Harrods</span><span> when she </span><span>worked </span><span>there part-time </span><span>and was a soul music fan, but was </span><span>struck by</span><span> the interracial dimension of </span><span>1975's </span><span><em>Born to Run</em></span><span> album cover, which features Springsteen and saxophonist Clarence Clemons.</span> <span>After listening to</span><span> the album, she </span><span>fell in love with Springsteen's lyrics "because he writes about everyone being the same. His philosophy is no one wins, unless we all win".</span> <span>"When I first heard it, I felt he was writing about people like my parents – people who struggle to make a living, people facing undue hardship, people in the margins – hard-working, working</span><span>-class people</span><span>," </span><span>Chadha </span><span>says. "I think there's a dignity in that, and that's what I'm trying to capture in the film."</span> <span>It </span><span>was a mutual love of Springsteen that drew her to Manzoor. After she read a newspaper article </span><span>he wrote about The Boss</span><span>, as Springsteen is nicknamed</span><span>, </span><span>Chadha got in touch with Manzoor and they became friends. When </span><span>he said he was writing a memoir, she told him she believed she could turn it into a </span><span>film, but would first need "Bruce's blessing".</span><span> </span> <span>The opportunity to ask for that came when Springsteen visited the UK for the premiere of 2010's </span><span><em>The Promise</em></span><span><em>: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town</em></span><span>, a documentary about </span><span>his fourth studio album. </span><span>Chadha </span><span>attended the event with Manzoor</span><span>. When </span><span>Springsteen</span><span> approached to praise</span><span> </span><span>the journalist's memoir</span><span>, Chadha seized </span><span>her chance. She </span><span>laughingly recalls </span><span>telling herself to be "calm and professional", </span><span>only to end up sounding hysterical when she spoke to </span><span>the rocker about making a movie. </span><span>The musician told her to speak to </span><span>his team </span><span>and the rest, as they say,</span><span> is history.</span> <span>A story about a British</span><span>-Pakistani boy obsessed with Springsteen </span><span>is a far cry from the standard tropes of Pakistani men in a society </span><span>with a history of </span><span>marginalising its </span><span>minorities.</span><span> </span><span>A hallmark of Chadha's work is the way</span><span> she subverts stereotypes</span><span>, but she admits </span><span>she learn</span><span>t the hard way that representation matters after she made a short film</span><span>, 1992's </span><span><em>A Nice Arrangement</em></span><span>, about an Indian Hindu woman who is in love with a Muslim, but </span><span>faces an arranged marriage</span><span> to another man.</span> <span>"That was a </span><span>good lesson for me because I understood the power of image</span><span>," she says. "The image of that Indian woman not being able to marry who she wants fed into all the arranged marriage stereotypes. I realised I</span><span> had to be clever with representation </span><span>to </span><span>avoid making th</span><span>at mistake again."</span> <span>Since then she has made movies </span><span>with non-conventional characters and storylines, including </span><span><em>Bhaji on the Beach </em></span><span>(1993),</span><span><em> Bride and Prejudice</em></span><span> (2004) and </span><span><em>Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging</em></span><span> (2008). </span><span><em>Blinded by the Light</em></span><span><em> </em></span><span>tells the story of a Muslim teenager in a world where Islamophobia is rife, and Chadha says she felt a responsibility to tell that story in the right way. </span> <span>"But even more than that was not</span><span> messing up Bruce's words. Bruce gave us his entire catalogue. I was like, 'Oh my god, what are all these Bruce fans going to say when I've got Muslim kids running around Luton singing </span><span><em>Born to Run</em></span><span>?'"</span> <span>While</span><span> the film is set in the 1980s, </span><span>Chadha</span><span> says </span><span>it</span><span> will resonate with audiences of today. "It's bigger than the Muslim kid. It's bigger than Bruce," she sa</span><span>ys. "It's about what's going on in our world right now, and how to make those words and that life relevant</span><span>, even though the film is set in 1987.</span> <span> I put a lot of my pain and fear about what happened in England with Brexit and all the xenophobia that happened afterwards into the film, which is why I feel it’s so relevant to what’s going on in the world now.” </span> <span>While the film can be read as a political commentary on British society, it strives to portray a balanced narrative. </span><span>On one hand there are far-right National Front thugs who beat up Javed's dad</span><span> and racist bullies who try to intimidate </span><span>the teenager and his friend Roops, </span><span>but there are also </span><span>characters such as Javed's English teacher, who helps him cultivate his writing and pushes him to</span><span> pursue his dream of being a writer</span><span>. Javed's</span><span> girlfriend also </span><span>sensitively navigates cultural differences and unabashedly takes on her parent's bigotry, </span><span>while his caring neighbour </span><span>supports his writing. </span> <span>"I had neighbours like that growing up</span><span>, very kind English neighbours," Chadha says. </span><span>"I thought it was important to show that as well</span><span>." </span>