Blinded by the Light (12A)
Directed by Gurinder Chadha

SET in Margaret Thatcher’s austere Britain, against the rise of racism and the National Front, a Pakistani teenage boy’s life is transformed by his discovery of Bruce Springsteen’s music in this fun and uplifting comedy drama.

The film, directed and co-written by Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham), is inspired by the memoir of journalist Sarfraz Mansoor and the words and music of the Boss which speak directly to 16-year-old Javed (Viveik Kalra) in 1987 Luton as he battles to find his own voice.

A political animal, he writes poems and songs in protest about Thatcher and Reaganomics for his best friend and aspiring singer Matt (Dean-Charles Chapman, a Jamie Cullum lookalike) but his dream is to leave his home and become a writer.