Gurinder Chadha’s Blinded By The Light to close the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne

Gurinder Chadha's coming-of-age film, Blinded by the Light, will close the tenth edition of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne on 17 August. The writer-director Chadha will answer questions from the audience after the film's screening. Producer Guneet Monga, actress Rituparna Sengupta, and filmmakers Jahnu Barua, Vikram Phadnis, and Mayur Katariya are also expected to attend.

Based on the memoir, Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll, by journalist Sarfaraz Manzoor, Blinded by the Light tells the story of a British-Pakistani teenager, Javed (Viveik Kalra), in the 1980s who transforms his life after hearing the music of Bruce Springsteen.

Hayley Atwell, Nell Williams, Kulvinder Ghir and Meera Ganatra are also part of the cast. AR Rahman has scored the music of the film.

Blinded By The Light had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this January and is due to release in India soon.

In a statement, festival director Mitu Bhowmick Lange said, “Soaked in all issues and things close to our hearts, this is the film that will have a strong connect with the audience.  Every Indian in Melbourne will feel in sync with the story as it is a narrative replete with stories close to their hearts. The universal story of immigrants said with the most personal touch."

For its tenth edition, the festival screened over 60 films in over 20 languages, including Super Deluxe (2019) starring Vijay Sethupathi, Rima Das's National Award-winning Bulbul Can Sing, Barua's Bhoga Khirkee and the Oscar-winning documentary short, Period. End of Sentence.