Blinded by the Light (2019), directed by Gurinder Chadha

It is 1987, the last year of school for aspiring writer Javed and what a big year it is. He finds his writing voice, gets his first girlfriend, discovers the music of Bruce Springsteen and begins to break away from his traditional Pakistani family. Inspired by the true story of writer Sarfraz Mansoor, the film effectively captures the teenage angst and frustration of feeling trapped in a dead-end town—Luton, in Thatcher’s Britain. Unemployment is at an all-time high and racist National Front thugs roam the streets with impunity. Do you stand up for yourself? Do you fight back? Do you escape? Springsteen’s songs have all the answers. The film has something of a fairytale quality, minor characters border on caricatures and the musical sequences are a tad over the top. Viveik Kalra as Javed is all exaggerated facial expressions at the start, but he grows into the part and becomes more credible; his graduation speech at the end is moving and convincing. The Springsteen soundtrack matches the narrative well, although some songs play too long, rather hammering home the point. There are loads of familiar faces among the supporting cast, with Hayley Atwell as an encouraging teacher, Nell Williams as girlfriend Eliza and Dean-Charles Chapman as best friend Matt the standouts. It’s a feelgood film that is enjoyable if not quite up to the standard of Chadha’s earlier work, such as Bend it Like Beckham and Monsoon Wedding.