"Bend It Like Beckham" director Gurinder Chadha knows a little bit about being a Bruce Springsteen fan, having seen The Boss at Wembley Stadium in 1984 where she proudly stood atop her chair and sang her heart out to his songs. So when she came across Guardian journalist Sarfraz Manzoor's memoir about being a British Muslim boy who finds inspiration, comfort and understanding of his own circumstances in Springsteen's lyrics, she knew it would be perfect for a film.
Ten years later, the 1987-set "Blinded by the Light", premiered at the Sundance Film Festival Sunday night to a warm response for the feel-good film that's packed to the brim with 17 Springsteen anthems. As the lights went down, the crowd in the Eccles Theater whispered rumors of a possible Springsteen appearance in Park City. He wasn't there and was never supposed to be, but as Chadha explained, he "didn't want to take away from the movie."
Springsteen gave his blessing to Chadha and Manzoor to do the film back in 2010. They had both gone to the red carpet for the premiere of the rockumentary "The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town" hoping to maybe get a picture with him. Springsteen recognized Manzoor and came over to tell him that he'd read his book.
"He nearly had a heart attack and landed on the floor," Chadha said. "And I said, 'Hey Bruce, my name is Gurinder and I'm a filmmaker and I really want to make a film of this book, will you support us? And he said, 'Sounds good! Talk to Jon.'"
With The Boss' blessing — and the support of his managers Jon Landau and Barbara Carr — they were suddenly developing the script. It turned in to a seven-year project.
