Blinded by the Light (2019)

In England in 1987, a teenager from an Asian family learns to live his life, understand his family and find his own voice through the music of American rock star Bruce Springsteen.

Director:

Gurinder Chadha

Writers:

Sarfraz Manzoor (screenplay), Gurinder Chadha (screenplay)

Stars:

Billy Barratt, Ronak Singh Chadha Berges, Viveik Kalra

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Barratt	...	Matt (10)
Ronak Singh Chadha Berges	...	Javed (10) (as Ronak Chadha Berges)
Viveik Kalra	...	Javed
Lee Barnett	...	Foreman
Dean-Charles Chapman	...	Matt
Kit Reeve	...	Emma
David Hayman	...	Mr. Evans
Kulvinder Ghir	...	Malik (Father)
Nikita Mehta	...	Shazia
Rob Brydon	...	Matt's Dad
Meera Ganatra	...	Noor (Mother)
Lorraine Ashbourne	...	Kathy
Tara Divina	...	Yasmeen (Cousin)
Jeff Mirza	...	Mr. Shah
Frankie Fox	...	Colin Hand

Storyline

In 1987 Britain, Javed Khan is a British-Pakistani college arts student in Luton in a family with a domineering father. Depressed by his oppressive family life and feeling he has no future in a hostile community, a newfound friend introduces Javed to the music of Bruce Springsteen. Touched by the rock star's powerfully eloquent affinity of his own feelings, Javed is inspired to reach out for his own dreams with his own talents. However, although Javed finds friends he never expected in this personal quest, he also finds himself butting heads with his newly unemployed father who stubbornly refuses to understand his son's new aspirations. In this conflict of values in a troubled time, Javed must decide what is truly important to him while his family struggles to understand what has changed and what remains with a new generation feeling born to run.

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Plot Keywords:

1980s | aspiring writer | british pakistani | title based on song | luton bedfordshire | 

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Taglines:

For Everyone Who Has Ever Wanted to Dream. You're Not Alone.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic material and language including some ethnic slurs.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 August 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blinded by the Light

Filming Locations:

The Mall Luton, Mall Management, 37 The Mall, Bedfordshire, Luton LU1 2LJ, United Kingdom

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,333,305, 18 August 2019

Gross USA:

$11,717,248

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$16,474,907

Company Credits

Production Co:

Levantine Films, Ingenious Media, Bend It Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rob Brydon, who plays Matt's Dad, is a Bruce Springsteen fan in real life and in January 2018 surprised regulars at the Half Moon in Putney by singing a version of "Thunder Road" with singer-songwriter Martyn Joseph.

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Goofs

When Javid picking up the NME at the newsstand there's a Number One magazine on the shelf too. This is the issue dated 21st January 1984 with Frankie Goes To Hollywood. It seems unlikely the vendor would have a 4 year old issue on sale.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Young Javed: September, 1980. My best friend Matt and I have the same birthday. He got a brand new chopper bike. It's really fast and looks so cool. I got a Rubik's cube. But Matt gave me this diary that he didn't want. And I'm going to write in it every day.

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Connections

Featured in Jeremy Vine: Episode #2.164 (2019)

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Soundtracks

Born to Run
Written by Bruce Springsteen

User Reviews

A good message

I saw this at a secret screening and it's not my normal kind of film, but it is a interesting message about culture and how the ideals we are exposed to can shape us.

Sticking with it to the end brings it full circle, and that seems to be the point of the story.