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Blinded by the Light

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Blinded by the Light

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Summary

Comedy drama starring Viveik Kalra and Kulvinder Ghir. Luton, 1987: outcast Javed, the son of Pakistani immigrants, is introduced to the music of Bruce Springsteen. Through his love of music, Javed grows in confidence and finds the inspiration to pursue an interest in writing, ask out his crush and stand up to racism in his community. But there's one crucial thing he craves: winning the approval of his father, Malik.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Andrew Collins

Sarfraz Manzoor's childhood memoir was published to acclaim in 2007, with a gift of a title: Greetings from Bury Park references the district of Luton, Bedfordshire, where the journalist grew up, as well as the name of Bruce Springsteen's debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ. From this celestial coincidence springs the movie, an endearingly eager, energetic slice of multicultural life. The part-fictionalised Manzoor - here known as Javed and played by newcomer Viveik Kalra - goes against the ancestral grain of a Muslim upbringing by pledging allegiance to Springsteen's white, foreign rock music, which nonetheless fuels Javed's dreams of escape from his suburban ennui. With truth on its side, the adaptation by director Gurinder Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges and Manzoor himself is predominantly comic, blending Adrian Mole with 2015's Sing Street, also set in the 1980s. Chadha confidently balances Grange Hill-style embarrassment with reminders of racism overt and casual (though snarling neighbour David Hayman is more complex than he at first appears). An appreciation of Springsteen's inspirational canon is somewhat bludgeoned into us but the film's belief in the power of music is sincere and artistically annotated on-screen. Javed's relationship with his immovably traditional father (Kulvinder Ghir) proves to be the story's beating heart, and air punching will be hard to avoid during some of The Boss's more powerful anthems.

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6.9/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameJavedViveik KalraMalik, Javed's fatherKulvinder GhirNoor, Javed's motherMeera GanatraRoopsAaron PhaguraMattDean-Charles ChapmanMs ClayHayley AtwellElizaNell WilliamsShazia, Javed's sisterNikita MehtaMatt's dadRob BrydonMr EvansDavid HaymanMrs AndersonSally PhillipsRobert, Eliza's dadMarcus BrigstockeFrances, Eliza's motherOlivia PouletColin HandFrankie Fox

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Crew

rolenameDirectorGurinder Chadha

Details

Theatrical distributor

Entertainment One

Released on

2019-08-09

Languages

English | Urdu

Guidance

Some swearing, racist language

Formats

Colour

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