Will Chadha film boost Luton’s appeal?

By Nadeem Badshah

IT IS the birthplace of cricketer Monty Panesar, top hat manufacturing, and boasts one of the most diverse populations in England.

And now Luton is set to be put on the global stage with Gurinder Chadha’s new film Blinded By The Light. The movie is about how a British Pakistani boy got through childhood in the Bedfordshire town thanks to the music of Bruce Springsteen and his friends from different backgrounds.

It is based on the book by Sarfraz Manzoor, Greetings From Bury Park: Race. Religion. Rock’n’Roll, which is about growing up in the 1980s.

Chadha said: “Maybe we can do for Luton what Richard Curtis [director] did for Notting Hill”.

And experts and locals believe that the film celebrating the town’s diversity could spark a tourism boom.

Actor Armaan Kirmani told Eastern Eye: “It should be welcome news that Gurinder’s film is shedding some positive light on the city of Luton and celebrating its diversity.

“Films and cinema play a tremendous role in building bridges and breeding tolerance between communities. Cinema can help give Luton a cultural identity which it can breed and use to attract new investment and residents to boost the local economy.”

Luton is believed to be among a handful of cities and towns in England with majority non-white populations along with Slough in Berkshire and Leicester.

Arts Council England gave charity Luton Culture almost £2.2 million in 2016 over five years to develop a 10-year cultural vision for the area.

Dr Agnieszka Piotrowska, reader in film practice and theory, at the University of Bedfordshire, told Eastern Eye: “For the University of Bedfordshire, the film’s focus on Luton is important as we offer education to a culturally diverse population and are passionate about equal opportunities.

“Blinded By The Light celebrates ethnic and cultural diversity whilst at the same time drawing attention to some painful historical moments when that diversity was denied in the UK.

“The film’s lightness of touch and its skillful narrative presents an incredibly important universal message, namely that music, as well as art as a whole, can build bridges across cultures and continents and that there is no place for racial prejudice and intolerance in the contemporary world.

“While Notting Hill and Blinded By The Light are different pieces of work, the comparisons are a big compliment.

“We are delighted at the film’s success and are hopeful that it will have a further positive effect on the Luton community.”

One in five residents in Luton is estimated to be of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin.

Nazrul, 30, lives in the area with his wife and son. His parents also live in the heart of the town.

He said: “It’s great to see a Luton-born author be successful, but to then see his film about the town make it to the big screen is a bonus. The memoir, Greetings from Bury Park, really chimed with me because I grew up in the same area as the author and also all schools he attended were the same too.

“I have some great memories of growing up in Luton and feel observations of the town in the press and social media have not always been reflected in an accurate way.

“Hopefully, after seeing the film, tourists might be making Luton their new holiday destination!” added Nazrul.

Chadha says the themes of the film will have an impact on anyone who has issues with identity.

The Bend It Like Beckham director added: “What people are warming to I think is the fact that here is a vision of America, Bruce Springsteen’s vision of America, but through the eyes of a 16-year-old Pakistani kid from Luton, and that conflict somehow is what’s terribly moving.

“I think the idea of a kid who so wants to follow a particular dream but his father is dead set against it is also very universal.

“If you strip away Bruce, strip away race, strip away everything, just that pure story of father-son you know, trying to find a way to meet when they’re both at opposite ends.”

Meanwhile, chancellor Sajid Javid called the film “beautiful”, adding “empathy really is the weapon against division.”