The performances across the board are fantastic too. Like when Javed and Roops scream “Badlands” into the faces of skinhead bullies and a rendition of “Born to Run” that sweeps through school corridors and onto the streets of Luton. There are some fist-pumpingly brilliant sequences too. At other points, characters break into song and escape into fantasy, like in a “Thunder Road” backed serenade that makes fine use of Rob Brydon. At times Javed’s Walkman is the source with lyrics swirling up on screen to mirror his state of mind. Throughout his journey, director Gurinder Chadha supercharges the story with classic Springsteen songs “Born to Run,” “Backstreets,” and “Jungleland” are all present, while Boss aficionados will appreciate rarities like “Because The Night” (the big hit he penned for Patti Smith) and rejected Harry Potter song “I’ll Stand By You.”īlinded by the Light doesn’t play by any hard and fast musical rules.
Clay, writing songs for his friend Matt’s new romantic band, and finds the courage to ask out classmate Eliza (Nell Williams). He’s penning poetry with coaxing from Hayley Atwell’s English teacher Ms. Inspired by Springsteen’s music, Javed soon begins to find his voice. He finds parallels between Springsteen’s struggles and his own–finally there’s someone else who feels exactly like he does, even if he is a white rock star from New Jersey. Springsteen’s songs of working class strife and escaping his home town, all energetic guitars and epic saxophone solos, sound nothing like the era’s synth-heavy hits from Pet Shop Boys or A-ha, but they are exactly what Javed has been searching for. Wrestling with his cultural identity, Javed finds clarity after his schoolmate Roops (Aaron Phagura) lends him a pair of Springsteen cassettes–the Boss, Roops says, is “a direct line to all that’s true in this shitty world.” Late one night, Javed slides Born in the USA into his Walkman and is electrified by the lyrics to “Dancing in the Dark.” Immediately he’s hooked. All of this plays out against the backdrop of rising unemployment, the encroaching National Front, and Thatcherism. A first generation immigrant, Javed is caught between the desire of his strict father Malik (Kulvinder Ghir) to become a doctor or lawyer, and his own yearning dream to express himself through words and lyrics. For Blinded by the Light’s Javed (Viveik Kalra), a British-Pakistani boy growing up in ‘80s Luton, it comes in the form of denim-clad all-American rocker Bruce Springsteen. "His lyrics and what he stands for is so universal and so timeless that the music that he made in the '70s and '80s can still resonate with people now, you know, 30, 40 years later.Sometimes you find salvation in the unlikeliest of places. "Not that needs it, but I think people need it in a way. the way this film's kind of introduced us to Springsteen - because it's not normal for someone in their 20s in Britain to be listening to Springsteen now, it's very rare that you find someone like that. "And then when I did, it was almost like I felt like everyone of my age, everyone in my friendship group, should automatically like him as well, but they haven't taken it in the context I have. "It took me a while just to actually enjoy his music and understand what it was about his lyrics that resonated so well to people," he says. Phagura says he too has become a big Springsteen fan. :: Listen to our latest Backstage podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker Listen to "The Big Hack, Keeping Faith and Tom Cruise" on Spreaker. Everything else is just a bonus, but for me my main goal was for him to see him in me." It was the best compliment I could have got after taking this role. And I literally just spoke to him last night and he said watching me was like deja vu. "Of course, you don't wanna do an impression of him but I kind of felt like I want him to watch and see a version of himself. "I feel like that was the most nerve-racking thing for me, playing not only someone that existed but someone that's actually alive and going to be watching this portrayal of him," he says. So I didn't do an impression of Sarfraz but I took little titbits of him that I wanted to place in this 16-year-old kid from Luton, 1987."īut for Aaron Phagura, who plays best mate Roops - the school friend who introduced Manzoor to Springsteen, and is still his best mate today - that was the biggest pressure. "But it wasn't like I had to play Churchill or something, someone who's really instantly historically recognisable. "It's quite cool… it's his actual life," he says. Image: Aaron Phagura stars as Roops in Blinded By The Light
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