Blinded by the Light Parent Guide

Javed Khan (Viveik Kalra) feels trapped. He’s “stuck in Luton. No fun, freedom or future. Because Luton is a four letter word.”

Javed’s not just trapped in a nowhere town – he’s also constrained by his family’s expectations. His father, Malik (Kulvinder Ghir), immigrated to England from Pakistan, seeking a better future for his family. But the 1980s recession has cost Malik his job and he’s stuck in a spiral of unemployment and financial stress. He wants his son to study hard, stay away from girls, and become a doctor or lawyer so he will be financially secure. Javed, on the other hand, wants to kiss a girl, become a writer, and get out of Luton. There’s plenty of kindling here for family conflict, but “you can’t start a fire without a spark”.

The spark comes in the form of Bruce Springsteen’s music. The lyrics speak to Javed on a visceral level and provide the catalyst for him to follow his dreams. But in the Boss’s words, “You want it, you take it, you pay the price.” Will Javed be able to reach for his dreams or will the price be too high?

Director Gurinder Chadha deserves credit for creating a warm, emotionally honest drama about adolescence, cultural adjustment, and the power of family ties to heal and hurt. It would be easy to demonize Javed’s parochial father, but Chadha instead shows his vulnerability and love for his family. Kulvinder Ghir’s portrayal humanizes Malik and is only one of the many outstanding performances in the film. Meera Ganatra brings to life his faithful, weary wife, and creates one of the most poignant moments in the movie. And Viveik Kilra shines as Javed, bringing a wide-eyed openness and thousand watt smile to his irresistible young character.

Best of all, this joyous story isn’t drowned in a tide of disturbing content. There are scattered profanities in the movie and mild sexual activity, consisting primarily of teens kissing passionately. The biggest concern here is racially motivated violence: a character is spat at, a youth urinates through a mail slot, a white supremacist march leads to physical altercations and minor injury with a small amount of blood.

But the negative content in Blinded by the Light is far outweighed by the movie’s many positive messages. This is a film that celebrates family, in all its annoying, maddening, quirky messiness. It affirms the power of cultural roots to both aggravate and anchor us. It speaks to the importance of friendship and the need to understand and forgive. It unabashedly encourages education, persistence, hard work, ambition, developing talents, and following dreams. And it delivers these messages without being preachy or pedantic. Instead, this is a sweet, exuberant film, pulsing with the energy of youth and Bruce Springsteen’s music. If “everybody’s got a hungry heart”, this movie is a great way to start filling it up.