WHO’S IN IT?
Viveik Kalra (film debut), Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger), Rob Brydon (Swimming with Men), Kulvinder Ghir (Bend It Like Beckham), Nell Williams (London Town), Dean-Charles Chapman (Breathe), Aaron Phagura (film debut), Meera Ganatra (film debut), Jonno Davies (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Sally Phillips (Bridget Jones’s Diary), David Hayman (Finding Your Feet)
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham), director, writer, producer; Paul Mayeda Berges (Viceroy’s House) and Sarfraz Manzoor (film debut), writers; Jane Barclay (Gosford Park) and Jamal Daniel (Hidden Figures), producers; A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire), composer; Ben Smithard (Goodbye Christopher Robin), cinematographer; Justin Krish (Nanny McPhee), editor
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
In 1987, Javed (Kalra) is a British-Pakistani teenager who lives under the watchful eye of his traditionalist father Malik (Ghir) as well as the intolerant mindset of his mostly white neighbours. He writes poetry as a means of escaping his real-world troubles, but when he is introduced to the music of Bruce Springsteen he suddenly begins to see parallels with his working-class life in the singer’s lyrics, which sends him on a personal journey to find the courage to stand up to his inflexible family’s wishes and express himself through his own creative voice…
IN ONE SENTENCE, WHY SHOULD YOU BE EXCITED?
Already buzzed as one of the year’s most outstanding crowd-pleasers, Gurinder Chadha’s latest film combines the racial and economic turmoil of late-80s Britain with a pumping soundtrack filled with songs by The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen.
