Gurinder Chadha
Yesterday night we had the honour of hosting this iconic woman at our campus.
She is the decorated director of Bend it Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice, Mistress of Spices and the upcoming Viceroy's House (which will be coming to Malaysia in August- yay!).
In our newly built auditorium and in the audience of HRH Sultanah Kalsom of Pahang, Gurinder sat and spoke to us about her story, her achievements, her roots, her message. It felt like we were invited into her life; she was seated comfortably, we were intently paying attention- like we were sitting in her living room as she walked us through her movies & the messages behind them.
She had wanted to make films, not for the art houses or academics. To gain attention on the issues she wanted to bring to the fore, she had to make populist movies- movies watched by the public and gets people talking.
Her grand uncle was a soldier in the British Army, in the state that was to become Pakistan. Due to his contributions, he was awarded a piece of land in Kenya. So off they went as settlers in a foreign land, at the same time keeping their colonial masters safe from harm. She was born in Kenya and moved to the UK at a young age. Her experience as a British Indian shaped her style and message in film-making. Some of her notable works are as follows:
I'm British but...
Her first feature film with a backdrop of a folksy sounding song about men who leave their Punjab homeland to seek fortune. Gurinder did an interview with 4 Asians who are seemingly invisible characters- "on the margins" so to speak, they were brought forward and put on screen to discuss their multiple identity. One particular interview scene highlighted was how we (Asians) are fascinated (enamored even) with the colonial culture despite the suffering we have had in their hands (the interviewee had talked about the massacre at Amritsar).
Acting Our Age
Gurinder's message here is that anyone can be a filmmaker: "What is your story that is worth telling?". Here she gave a group of senior ladies and gentlemen the camera for them to film away & shoot a movie.
Bhaji on the Beach
(This one I have watched and literally rolled on the floor laughing!). The audience was asked: Who had watched this movie? Only a few hands went up & I wasn't sure if I had. Then she played the clip & I began to recall some scenes. I had watched this when I first arrived in Sheffield! In Bhaji on the Beach, two 'taboo' matters were brought to the fore: domestic violence and mixed race relationships, intertwined with comedy and 'stereotype' of Asians living in the UK.
What's Cooking
This was an "American' movie produced especially for the American audience, about a few families coming together for Thanksgiving.
Bend it Like Beckham
Gurinder started with some anecdotes about the movie- how she had to find an Indian girl who can play football and act; that this movie launched Kiera Knightley's career. The movie became very successful grossing high returns worldwide. To Gurinder, this movie was a piece of social history; the presence of Asian culture in Britain. Now Bend it Like Beckham has been made into a musical & currently the case is preparing for their show in North America (wow!!!).
Bride and Prejudice
Derived from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, this was a marriage of British film-making and Bollywood- essentially a love story starring Aishwarya Rai and Martin Henderson. Gurinder mentioned at the end that "there's nothing political about this movie except Jane Austen."
Mistress of Spices
A sensual movie about spice and its effects
Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging
Departed from the Asian roots/ community/ actors and discussed teenage issues
It's a Wonderful AfterLife
The idea of a horror comedy came to her when she was pregnant; a lady who has a chubby daughter wanted to marry her off and whoever ridiculed her daughter was killed. The souls will be in limbo until such time that the killer dies. Hence before the mother agrees to die, the ghosts are recruited to find a match for her daughter. Anecdote: this particular movie was especially well-received in Malaysia, for which she thanked us.
Viceroy's House
Viceroy's House recounts the last few months before the India-Pakistan Partition and the role Lord Mountbatten had in the event. This was a movie that Gurinder wanted made, to revisit her roots. She had recalled how welcoming the people had been when she visited her grandfather's house (in now Pakistan) despite expecting a quiet visit. "Let us help you find your grandfather's home". "Welcome Home, you are our Daughter". (I shed a quiet tear right about now).
Q&A Session (I can't remember the exact questions, so I have kinda paraphrased them)
1- How to become a director/ writer?
Read some books about writing (e.g. Robert McKee) & watch lots and lots of movies. Watching movies is like a course for to-be-directors.
2- What is the process of planning a movie/ working with the scriptwriters?
Gurinder does a flow diagram (a map of scenes & characters), then this will be passed on to the scripwriters to develop the dialogues/ storyline.
3- Do you wish that certain movies (of yours) have a different ending?
"I wished Partition never happened", but no, all movies ended in the way she (they) intended. That's why no sequel was planned or made for Bend it Like Beckham. When making a movie, the scenes grab you and take control- you have no choice but to move along with them. For directors, generally they must know or at least have a general idea where the film is headed/ the direction/ the ending.
4- How would you like to be remembered?
As a person who brings a message that we are more similar than different.
5- What makes you move forward when there are a lot of odds and objections against you?
Gurinder mentioned that at a particular time she was reading the Sikh scriptures and some poems that gave her inner peace. At times she will express her anger, like when the British Film Institute refused to give her funding for "Bend it Like Beckham". Overall she mentioned that you must have a strong reason to be doing something, otherwise you will give up at early signs of trouble/ objection.
6- How did you find the balance between the cultures?
By accepting who I am, that I am a part of both worlds.. and it is an advantage.
My personal summary: I was glad I attended the session. Her achievements are numerous and startastic (my own word), yet she remains a humble soul- witty, friendly, relatable. As if telling all of us that we all could be like her and still be personable (and nice). Someone whom I would strive to be like. (As usual, now I struggle with a finishing quote.. haha)
I would probably quote Gurinder's own concluding words, a direct excerpt from her article appearing in The Guardian Online on 16 April 2016 (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/16/gurinder-chadha-on-viceroys-house-why-i-had-to-make-a-film-about-partition)
After five years of research and development, I will complete the film at the end of this year. I will have written my history, the history of my family, intertwined with that of Prince William’s great-great uncle and the end of the Raj. As a British-Indian woman, I doubt Churchill had me in mind when he said: “History is written by the victors.”
She is the decorated director of Bend it Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice, Mistress of Spices and the upcoming Viceroy's House (which will be coming to Malaysia in August- yay!).
In our newly built auditorium and in the audience of HRH Sultanah Kalsom of Pahang, Gurinder sat and spoke to us about her story, her achievements, her roots, her message. It felt like we were invited into her life; she was seated comfortably, we were intently paying attention- like we were sitting in her living room as she walked us through her movies & the messages behind them.
She had wanted to make films, not for the art houses or academics. To gain attention on the issues she wanted to bring to the fore, she had to make populist movies- movies watched by the public and gets people talking.
Her grand uncle was a soldier in the British Army, in the state that was to become Pakistan. Due to his contributions, he was awarded a piece of land in Kenya. So off they went as settlers in a foreign land, at the same time keeping their colonial masters safe from harm. She was born in Kenya and moved to the UK at a young age. Her experience as a British Indian shaped her style and message in film-making. Some of her notable works are as follows:
I'm British but...
Her first feature film with a backdrop of a folksy sounding song about men who leave their Punjab homeland to seek fortune. Gurinder did an interview with 4 Asians who are seemingly invisible characters- "on the margins" so to speak, they were brought forward and put on screen to discuss their multiple identity. One particular interview scene highlighted was how we (Asians) are fascinated (enamored even) with the colonial culture despite the suffering we have had in their hands (the interviewee had talked about the massacre at Amritsar).
Acting Our Age
Gurinder's message here is that anyone can be a filmmaker: "What is your story that is worth telling?". Here she gave a group of senior ladies and gentlemen the camera for them to film away & shoot a movie.
Bhaji on the Beach
(This one I have watched and literally rolled on the floor laughing!). The audience was asked: Who had watched this movie? Only a few hands went up & I wasn't sure if I had. Then she played the clip & I began to recall some scenes. I had watched this when I first arrived in Sheffield! In Bhaji on the Beach, two 'taboo' matters were brought to the fore: domestic violence and mixed race relationships, intertwined with comedy and 'stereotype' of Asians living in the UK.
What's Cooking
This was an "American' movie produced especially for the American audience, about a few families coming together for Thanksgiving.
Bend it Like Beckham
Gurinder started with some anecdotes about the movie- how she had to find an Indian girl who can play football and act; that this movie launched Kiera Knightley's career. The movie became very successful grossing high returns worldwide. To Gurinder, this movie was a piece of social history; the presence of Asian culture in Britain. Now Bend it Like Beckham has been made into a musical & currently the case is preparing for their show in North America (wow!!!).
Bride and Prejudice
Derived from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, this was a marriage of British film-making and Bollywood- essentially a love story starring Aishwarya Rai and Martin Henderson. Gurinder mentioned at the end that "there's nothing political about this movie except Jane Austen."
Mistress of Spices
A sensual movie about spice and its effects
Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging
Departed from the Asian roots/ community/ actors and discussed teenage issues
It's a Wonderful AfterLife
The idea of a horror comedy came to her when she was pregnant; a lady who has a chubby daughter wanted to marry her off and whoever ridiculed her daughter was killed. The souls will be in limbo until such time that the killer dies. Hence before the mother agrees to die, the ghosts are recruited to find a match for her daughter. Anecdote: this particular movie was especially well-received in Malaysia, for which she thanked us.
Viceroy's House
Viceroy's House recounts the last few months before the India-Pakistan Partition and the role Lord Mountbatten had in the event. This was a movie that Gurinder wanted made, to revisit her roots. She had recalled how welcoming the people had been when she visited her grandfather's house (in now Pakistan) despite expecting a quiet visit. "Let us help you find your grandfather's home". "Welcome Home, you are our Daughter". (I shed a quiet tear right about now).
Q&A Session (I can't remember the exact questions, so I have kinda paraphrased them)
1- How to become a director/ writer?
Read some books about writing (e.g. Robert McKee) & watch lots and lots of movies. Watching movies is like a course for to-be-directors.
2- What is the process of planning a movie/ working with the scriptwriters?
Gurinder does a flow diagram (a map of scenes & characters), then this will be passed on to the scripwriters to develop the dialogues/ storyline.
3- Do you wish that certain movies (of yours) have a different ending?
"I wished Partition never happened", but no, all movies ended in the way she (they) intended. That's why no sequel was planned or made for Bend it Like Beckham. When making a movie, the scenes grab you and take control- you have no choice but to move along with them. For directors, generally they must know or at least have a general idea where the film is headed/ the direction/ the ending.
4- How would you like to be remembered?
As a person who brings a message that we are more similar than different.
5- What makes you move forward when there are a lot of odds and objections against you?
Gurinder mentioned that at a particular time she was reading the Sikh scriptures and some poems that gave her inner peace. At times she will express her anger, like when the British Film Institute refused to give her funding for "Bend it Like Beckham". Overall she mentioned that you must have a strong reason to be doing something, otherwise you will give up at early signs of trouble/ objection.
6- How did you find the balance between the cultures?
By accepting who I am, that I am a part of both worlds.. and it is an advantage.
My personal summary: I was glad I attended the session. Her achievements are numerous and startastic (my own word), yet she remains a humble soul- witty, friendly, relatable. As if telling all of us that we all could be like her and still be personable (and nice). Someone whom I would strive to be like. (As usual, now I struggle with a finishing quote.. haha)
I would probably quote Gurinder's own concluding words, a direct excerpt from her article appearing in The Guardian Online on 16 April 2016 (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/16/gurinder-chadha-on-viceroys-house-why-i-had-to-make-a-film-about-partition)
After five years of research and development, I will complete the film at the end of this year. I will have written my history, the history of my family, intertwined with that of Prince William’s great-great uncle and the end of the Raj. As a British-Indian woman, I doubt Churchill had me in mind when he said: “History is written by the victors.”
posted by elya at 10:42 pm
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