BLINDED BY THE LIGHT

Director
Gurinder Chadha
(BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, VICEROY’S HOUSE, BRIDE & PREJUDICE)

Stars
Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Ganatra, Nell Williams, Hayley Atwell, Dean-Charles Chapman and Aaron Phagura

Based on the acclaimed memoir Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll of British journalist Sarfraz Manzoor and inspired by his love of songs by Bruce Springsteen, BLINDED BY THE LIGHT is the coming-of-age story of a British-Pakistani teenager in the late eighties during the reign of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In the eastern England town of Luton, Javed’s (Viveik Kalra) ambitions are to do what every other classmate is already freely doing – to score his first kiss with a girl, ASAP, and to flee his hometown and the racial prejudice he faces there, once school is over. His ambitions are hindered, however, by the intentions of his extremely traditional father, Malik (Kulvinder Ghir) who expects his son to work and study hard, keep away from girls and all other English influences. One day at school when Javed’s friend, Roops (Aaron Phagura) introduces him to the songs of Bruce Springsteen, the lyrics of his songs strike a chord so deep, they propel Javed to rebel against his father’s every wish and pursue his own dreams.

Image result for blinded by the light Viveik Kalra Kulvinder Ghir film stills

This biographical comedy-drama certainly has a story that is worth telling and contains all of the hallmarks of a feel-good film, but rarely comes to life to the extent it ought to.

Though I am freely willing to admit that Bruce Springsteen’s music doesn’t enthuse me quite like it does for our protagonist, this reason alone as to why the film’s energy isn’t consistently infectious is minor in comparison. For a decent chunk of the opening and middle acts, I found the characterisation very one-dimensional, the writing to be of a rather standard quality and the acting and delivery of dialogue often wooden. As a result, the central plot throughout the first half of BLINDED BY THE LIGHT formed little connection and inadvertently plays second fiddle to some of the side stories that are better executed. Namely, Javed’s friendship with the amusing Matt (Dean-Charles Chapman), the observations and encouragement of Javed’s teacher, Miss Clay (Hayley Atwell) and a potential love interest brewing for him.

Image result for blinded by the light Viveik Kalra film stills
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT also struggled to lift from the screen during sequences where characters would tune out while tuning into the music of Springsteen. The frequent interjections of his music often momentarily stall the development of the main story and director Gurinder Chadha has inexplicably accompanied these scenes with on-screen text that provide some of the lyrics to these very well-known tracks. It’s an unnecessary addition to a film that is already having trouble meshing all components to form a feel-good comedy-drama.

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Up until sometime in the second half of the film, BLINDED BY THE LIGHT is a mediocre movie, though I’ve probably made it sound a lot worse! Fortunately, something about this movie (probably the central story) didn’t allow me to give up on it entirely. Just as well, because it does indeed save its best for last. When tensions in Javed’s family household inevitably rise, BLINDED BY THE LIGHT finally begins to strike a chord similar to what Springsteen has struck with our protagonist. Though it took first-time feature film actor Viveik Kalra this long to finally win me over, he eventually did. In the end, yes, BLINDED BY THE LIGHT is the feel-good and crowd-pleasing movie it was destined to be that demonstrates the worth and universally resonant power of lyrics in music.