Gurression Chadha in Bend It’s like Beckham Sequel and New Film Christmas Karma

What does Bollywood have to do with Christmas?

I put this question to film director Gurinder Chada and the answer, it turns out, is a lot.

“Bollywood is all about singing, dancing, happiness,” he says. “So I think that for me, the idea of ​​making a happy Christmas film, with singing and dancing, it comes naturally for this time of year.”

And that’s exactly what Chadha – best known for directing the 2002 film It’s Like Beckham – has done.

With a cast including Kunal Nayyar, Hugh Bonneville, Pixie Lott, Boy George, Charithra Chandran Karma is a Charles Dickens’ classic, a Christmas carol.

But Chadha says it is also “a British Film” that celebrates a wide range of musical traditions.

The 65-year-old, who wrote and wrote it, is also busy working on his sequel to bend it like Beckham. this summer, He confirmed to the BBC that a revival is in the works.

Speaking to me in a Central London Hotel earlier this week, he indicated that he feels the pressure to get it right.

“I work with characters. These are big boots to fill,” he said. “I don’t want to rush it. The last thing I want is for people to go, ‘it’s not as good as the original’.”

First published in 1843, A Christmas Carol tells the story of the masterly Ebenezer Schrooge, who hates Christmas, but changes after a series of ghost visits.

In Christmas Karma, we are met with a modern-day scrooge called Mr Sood, who goes on a similar journey of redemption.

Nayyar, best known for playing Raj in the big bang theory, plays Mr Sood – but says he’s like scrooge in real life. “I love Christmas,” he told me. “Who doesn’t love Christmas? Of course I love Christmas.”

The actor said he always celebrated Christmas growing up in New Delhi. “Indians have a wonderful take on celebrating all festivals,” he said.

The first ghost to visit Mr Sood is his former partner, Jacob Marley, played by Paddington and Downton Abbey Star Hugh Bonneville.

He was also visited by the American singer and actor Billy Porter, who acts as the ghost of Christmas today.

Porter says that up until this film, he was “definitely” more of a scrooge.

But Bonneville claims to be a big fan of Christmas. He also dismissed suggestions that it was too early for a happy film to hit the theatres.

“I used to be passionate about it, and wanted the Christmas decorations to go on, frankly, on boxing day, but earlier,” he said.

“Although I draw the line at some Christmas songs that are played too quickly, I think they should be banned.”

As a Sidenote, I had to ask Bonneville if he planned to come and see the new paddington musical. “Next week,” he told me. “I look forward to seeing the same story being told.”

In Christmas Karma, Mr. Sood is portrayed as one of 28,000 Asian refugees in Uganda Who came to the UK in 1972 After being given 90 days to leave the African country by the military dictator Amin.

Later in life, we see Mr. Sood deporting refugees seeking asylum in the UK. “The rich always forget their roots,” a bystander remarked.

But after guiding the ghosts of Christmas – played by Eva Longoria, Billy Porter, and Boy George – Mr George – Mr George – Mr Soy Syanos Walked into his past.

Chadha says the inspiration for his Scrooge came from a “Grinch-Same Family Member who used to criticize Christmas. “‘I don’t know why you do all this. You’re not white’,” he said he would tell them.

Later, he learns that, like Mr Sood, he “carries the trauma” of being forced to leave his homeland as a child.

But he also said that he was encouraged by some politicians.

“It also makes sense to me to make it difficult for me to say the little things that are on the wing, because when I write it [during lockdown]we have a government with members of the Asian community who share the same background,” he said.

For Leo Suter, who plays Mr. Sood’s underpaid employee Bob Cravett, there is one important message he hopes people will take away from the film.

“Dickens’ work has lasted … a long time, because of the message at its core. The original text is that empathy, much better,” he said.

“And what the film does perfectly is to perfectly bring that spirit to a complex and inspiring discussion of migration and things that are different in modern Britain,” he said.

The film also has a BhanDra Pasko song, and a George Michael tribute with Bollywood Superstar Phiyanka Chopra Jonas singing a DESI.

“I feel like I’ve got all the things you want in a Christmas movie,” added Pixie Lott, who plays SURTE’s wife Mary Cravett.

“It makes you cry, it makes you laugh. It feels good, but it also touches you in a way that makes you think about your own life.”

Christmas Karma is in cinemas from 14 November.