Mumbai, Dec 5 : Globally acclaimed filmmaker Gurinder Chadha, who has throughout her journey as a filmmaker been a strong cultural representative for Indian voices in Western cinema, recently, while talking to IANS, shared a candid reflection on the challenges she continues to face as a British-Indian filmmaker, especially in the Western countries.
Chadha spoke exclusively to IANS about how identity politics still follow her work, even after decades of success. “I am always conscious of the fact that someone like me doesn’t look like what filmmakers typically look like in the West.”
Gurinder said. “Someone like me, or like my parents, has had to struggle to be seen for who we truly are. So, just the fact that I am making films in Britain is a political act, because I am telling stories from my own perspective.” Chadha highlighted that despite proving her strength and sheer capacity as a top-notch filmmaker with movies like Bend It Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice, Indian perspectives are still considered commercially failed in Western markets. “There is still this perception that if you cast an Indian actor in the lead in a Western movie, it won’t be commercially successful. I am constantly being put into boxes by others, and I am constantly breaking out of those boxes and bending the rules,” said Chadha.
The filmmaker is now all set up for the release of her upcoming festive movie, The Christmas Karma, starring Hollywood’s popular Indian-origin actor Kunal Nayyar. For the uninitiated, the film also features a special musical highlight: a Bollywood-style version of the iconic holiday song ‘Last Christmas’ sung by global superstar Priyanka Chopra Jonas.
Gurinder Chadha has previously created some of the most iconic and superhit cross-cultural films, including Bend It Like Beckham with Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley, Bride and Prejudice starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Martin Henderson, and Viceroy’s House with Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson and Huma Qureshi.
With The Christmas Karma on its way, Gurinder Chadha is once again ready to push open doors for more inclusive filmmaking on the global stage. The movie releases on the 12th of December.
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