him that he loved Greetings From Bury Park.
“Sarfraz hyperventilated. I was trying to be
cool, but knew this was my only chance,” Chadha
remembers. “I was like: ‘Bruce, we wanna turn it
into a film. I made Bend It Like Beckham, here’s
my CV, will you support us?’ And he looked at me
and looked at Sarfraz and said: ‘Sounds good.’”
The collaboration between Manzoor and
Chadha was seamless; Chadha had the
screenwriting experience that Manzoor lacked,
and both understood what it was like to immigrate
to Britain during a time of political unrest.
“It was lucky for him to have a British-Asian
director who understood the world that he was
trying to carve out,” Chadha says. “I still had to
make a movie though, which meant making
Sarfraz look a bit cooler than he really is [in the
book]. So, we gave him a girlfriend.”
The real nerve-wracking stuff came after the
film had wrapped, when only one man’s approval
truly mattered. Chadha recalls Springsteen
walking into the screening room to see the film in
its entirety. “I remember thinking, ‘Fucking hell,
I’m shitting bricks,’ she laughs. “I was sat at the
back when the film started, but I needed to move
closer to see what he thought. As I shuffled in
behind him I could see his crow’s feet. He was
laughing. When the film finished, he walked over,
gave me a big kiss and a massive hug and said:
‘Thank you for looking after me so beautifully.’”
AFTER THE NEWS of the New Line deal broke
at Sundance, Springsteen’s manager texted the
musician a photo of Chadha and the team dancing
at the film’s afterparty. “He texted back right away
to say how pleased he was for me because I’d
worked so hard,” Chadha beams. “I think he liked
it because he didn’t want a film about him being a
star. That’s why he’s not on the poster. He liked it
because it’s a film about his words.”
Having walked away from Sundance with
one of the biggest deals of the festival, Chadha
can now focus on her other projects, including
Beecham House — ITV’s first show in the Sunday
night premiere slot made by a company of
colour — and Pashmina, an animated series for
Netflix based on a feminist graphic novel.
If you think that Chadha has any intention
of taking things easy now, happily, you’d be
mistaken. “I hope I bloody drop dead sitting
next to a clapperboard in one of those director’s
chairs,” she jokes. “That’d be a great way to go.”
It’s not likely to happen soon. Chadha is
unshakeable: a woman whose struggles only
fuel her desire to bring joy to as many as she
can through her craft.
She is the Springsteen of Southall, an
outsider who won’t stop until she’s changed the
world; even if she’s not always accepted by it.BLINDED BY THE LIGHT IS IN CINEMAS FROM 22 AUGUSTHere: Chadha looks
on the bright side —
in spite of sporadic
professional
obstacles. Left, top
to bottom: ITV
drama Beecham
House, airing now;
Box office megahit
Bend It Like
Beckham; Fêted
debut Bhaji
On The Beach.