Javed Khan (played by Viveik Kalra) is trying to be a good son, but also finding his own desires at odds with his strict and no nonsense father, Malik (played by Kulvinder Ghir), who is continually pushing Javed to pursue business as a career despite Javed's clear talents as a writer. He does have his friend Matt (played by Dean Charles Chapman) from across the street to confide in. Things get even more difficult for Javed's family when his father is laid off from the local automotive plant and the family becomes reliant on his mother's work as a seamstress. But a chance encounter with another student at school, Roops (played by Aaron Phagura), changes everything when Roops loans him a couple Bruce Springsteen tapes. Initially hesitant as he can't imagine anything Bruce would sing about would be at all relevant to him, he eventually relents and is shocked to find just how deep he feels the music of The Boss. He takes it so to heart that be begins collecting Bruce Springsteen memorabilia and even begins to dress like him. But even more so, begins to pursue writing as a career in earnest with the encouragement of his Writing teacher Ms. Clay (played by Hayley Atwell) and his next door neighbor. He even gains the courage to ask out a girl he fancies from class, Eliza (played by Nell Williams), with some assistance from Matt's Dad (played by Rob Brydon) in a cute scene set to Springsteen's "Thunder Road." Yet, Javed still feels himself torn between his dreams and a sense of responsibility to his family in their moment of crisis.
The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha, and she co-wrote it as well with Sarfraz Manzoor, whose memoir inspired the film. The film paints a portrait of Great Britain in turmoil. A massive recession his the populace hard leaving millions out of work. They also saw a strong rise in White Nationalism who many of their efforts were directed towards Pakistani immigrants like Javed and his family. The film depicts this with an earnest sincerity as we Javed and his family face this discrimination head on, whether it's Javed being spit on by one on his way home from school or him and his father witnessing racist kids urinating through a friend's letterbox. Malik's response to this is to keep his head down, not make noise whereas Javed is at first frightened and then angered as evidenced in an empowering scene where he and Roops stand up to a trio of skinheads while belting out Springsteen's "Badlands." Chadha and Manzoor balance the trials of Javed with his triumphs as he finds confidence with his writing quite well. The film, which is not quite a jukebox musical and yet kind of is at times, still wears it's heart on it's sleeve and the plot is a bit predictable at times. Honestly though, I didn't care because the story was so relatable to me. And then on top of that, it's all punctuated with some choice selections from Bruce Springsteen's discography. The film does a great job capturing the world of fandom and how obsessive it can seem when you have such a strong, positive reaction to something, in this case the music of Bruce Springsteen. Gurinder Chadha brings it to life on screen in such a fantastic way too as Javed listens to the music, the selected lyrics he responds to appear on screen as he's listening to them, visually showing the impact it's having on him in a creative and visceral way.
Viveik Kalra was quite good as Javed and really captures his character's arc quite well, from the lonely and introverted boy at the beginning to the film who grows throughout the film to begin standing up for himself and go after what he wants. Kulvinder Ghir gives a lot of layers to his performance as Malik. Now, coming of age movies are littered with disapproving fathers that the main character needs to overcome and on the surface Malik is no different, but Ghir shows that everything he does and says comes from a place of real concern for his childrens' futures. Ghir is able to convey so much with just a look, you can tell he's terrified that being out of work and not being able to provide for his family means they could lose everything. He is also a traditional and proud man who feels absolutely humiliated at having lost his job after 18 years and having to rely on his wife's work to help make ends meet, as well as the part time jobs of his children and Malik does a fantastic job conveying this throughout his performance. I really liked Aaron Phagura as Roops. He does a great job portraying Roops' fan love for Bruce Springsteen, as well as being a much needed friend for Javed as the two bond over the music, especially since Matt is completely mystified at his friend's new obsession. I really liked Nell Williams as Eliza. Her character is a fun one with her style and independent spirit that informs her character's political activism that no doubt is just as much an inspiration to Javed as Springsteen's music. Williams imbues her with a spunky charm that I really enjoyed and responded to. Hayley Atwell takes a refreshingly grounded approach to her role as Javed's creative writing teacher, Ms. Clay. She encourages him to continue to pursue his writing, whether it be poems or essays as she pushes him to find his own voice and relates the talent she sees in his work. It's a wonderfully understated performance that made it more memorable to me as it reminded me of teachers who filled a similar role in my life. Rob Brydon may have only had a small role in this film, but he made the most of every scene he was in. I loved how he and Javed formed a bit of bond over their shared love of Bruce Springsteen as it was a little something Javed was missing with his own father. It also may just be because I've been a fan of his since his role of Uncle Bryn in the U.K TV series Gavin and Stacey.
Blinded by the Light functions not just as a tribute to the music of Bruce Springsteen, but also the trials and tribulations of growing up and finding inspiration and solace in fandom, in this case Springsteen's music. It's a heartfelt and joyous film that also draws some rather stark parallels to our current political climate with once again seeing a rise in racism and hatred as well as a tumultuous Government, both here and in the U.K. Still, if I was able to relate to a British-Pakistani teen in 1987 Luton, so much so that I was moved to tears, perhaps there is hope for us all. That's certainly something this film has in abundance and is all the better for it.
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