Gurinder Chadha Interview | Gurinder Chadha Upcoming Movies

Gurinder Chadha Interview | Gurinder Chadha Upcoming Movies

Tell me  about your  new film .

Frank Capra's It's  A  Wonderful  Life  is  one of my favourite films.  It  A  Wonderful Afterlife  takes me back  to  the  Bend  It Like  Beckham territory . Sanjeev Bhaskar and Shaheen  Khan are there. I've  actors from  Beckham back in my new  film.  It's that  kind  of  film. It takes me  back to my Punjabi  roots, very West London. What would  be an  interesting  challenge   for  my leading  lady Shabana Azmi  is  that   for  the first  time she plays British Indian.  We haven't seen  her  do  a  British  film. Shabana will be playing  an Indian woman who has been  living in  Britain for  the last   45 years. She's  never done that before.   Besides, I've a  completely  different  take on   being British Indian   from what Indians perceive. My film  is going  to be  the  quintessential  British comedy.  When  Shabana read  the script she began to get  the cultural connotations.  For  the  first  time I'm partnering  up with  Indian production  companies  The  Indian  Film  Company and  TV18. I'm very excited  about that .

How  was your last film Angus , Thongs and Perfect Snogging received?

Oh, very well I made like it  a coming-of-age   British version of  John Hughes'  16 Candles.  It was  a  very  very English  film.  It came  out in England   with Mama Mia  which was  massive. It affected  every movie that came  out last summer. We did spectacular business in  the matinee shows. But because   of Mama Mia  we  weren't able to expand  into  the   evening shows. However,  when we released  Angus on DVD every parent presented  one to  their kids. As   a result  a lot of people wrote  in to say how much they connected with the film as a parent  and as a teenager. The film comes out in  May 2009 in  in the US. In  America April-May is like a Diwali  release in India.Paramount  is  releasing  it in the US. The young  lead Georgia Groome will  become  the British  version  of Jodie Foster. I  like introducing new talent. I'm  introducing a new girl in my new  film It's  a  Wonderful Afterlife.

What happened  to Parminder Nagra after your Bend It Like Beckham?

She signed  up  for five years  for  the  American  soap ER. That's  quite  an accomplishment  for her. She's quite a  household face  in  the  US. She chose to do television.  In the West  it's still not easy for Asian  actors  to get  a big break. No, I won't say it's easy for them to  break  into Hollywood.

Do you think the actors from Slumdog Millionaire will benefit from   its success?

That's a difficult  question  to answer. The good thing  about  this   movie  was  that   it  was a movie with  no big budget  or  Hollywood stars, and no  American content   so  to speak,   winning  all these Oscars.   It's  like someone  in American  making  a film in Boston  and winning  all the Filmfare awards. I'd  say  it's wonderful  for A R Rahman and  the grace with which he has accepted all the accolades was heartwarming. He's an asset  to India.

You share a unique personal  rapport with Karan Johar?

Yes,  in fact  I sent  the script  for  Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging   to Karan in New York. He  thought  I had gone mad.  After  reading  it he  said his hormones   refuse  to go back to  normal.   He said he'd love  to  see a remake of the  film situated   in  Chandigarh.

I believe you wanted  to work with  Shabana  for a  long time?

Who  wouldn't want  to?  Earlier  I never had a script  that would  challenge  her enough.  I mean  she has  played  everything. Here she  not only gets  to  do  a role that's tonally  different  to  what she has done so  far,  but also  do comedy, and a British comedy at that. It's not easy thing to do. I don't think  she's done a  film in England before.  What she would find specially  interesting is to work with a  cast     of British and Indian  actors.

How much  do you  think   the Slumdog factor  matters  to your cinema?

I don't think  it matters much to  what I  do. Though I  don't  doubt moreIndian subjects  will be  greenlighted in  the West. That's  not necessarily  a  good thing. I wouldn't have  made Slumdog Millionaire the way  Danny Boyle made  if it  was  offered  to me. I'd  have  made a  different  film. That doesn't mean Danny Boyle hasn't  made a  film from his heart.For me  what I'm  doing in  my new film It's  A Wonderful  Afterlife is what I'm comfortable with. For  a while  something  vital  was  missing from  the script. I realized  it was  the Gurinder Chadha factor. I am making  comedy. But  the human essence  was missing. I  got down to  it,  left my kids to the nanny and got in front of  the computer.  Now I'm ready.