When Gurinder Chadha walked into the room in a bright red Christmas sweater, despite Mumbai’s unforgiving heat, we both burst out laughing. “Anything for Christmas Karma!” she jokes, fanning herself dramatically. That easy banter sets the tone for our conversation. I believe that the conversation flows effortlessly hence, swinging from memories to movies to the meaning of storytelling itself. We find ourselves talking about Christmases from her childhood. Family traditions stitched together with warmth, humour and the unmistakable flavour of a British-Indian home. She paints vivid pictures of masala-infused roast dinners, letters to Santa and the Queen’s speech playing in the background. For Chadha, Christmas isn’t just a holiday, it’s a feeling, a connection and a reminder of compassion and togetherness that has followed her throughout her life and career. Excerpts…
How did you develop the story for Christmas Karma?
It began before the pandemic. I was watching my favourite Christmas film, Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. It is a beautiful film and I make my children watch it every year. This film teaches you everything you need to know about human connection. I would sit there and cry buckets every year. One particular year really touched me. And I said, you know what? I want to make a film that makes me feel like this every Christmas. It’s a Wonderful Life was inspired by Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. So I also went back to that text. His story is set in Victorian England where there’s a lot of disparity between the rich and the poor. His book was really a plea for empathy, humanity and compassion. And living in today’s world, I felt that message is certainly true. I believe A Christmas Carol was written from the perspective of Guru Nanak Dev ji. Although Charles Dickens wouldn’t have known that. But the concept of Ek Onkar or we are all one and connected is what Charles Dickens talked about.
The storyline is about an older man looking back at his life…
Yes Sood is an older guy, looking back at his life. When I was growing up, we had somebody we knew who had the same story. They had come from Uganda in 1972. They had grown up there. But Idi Amin had decided to expel all Indians who’d been brought there by the British. They were all displaced and many came to Britain as refugees. This guy came in, his father died in the refugee camp. It was a very hostile and unwelcoming environment for him. And because it all happened over Christmas, he was always traumatised by Christmas. He used to come to our house and ask us about whether we are trying to be white by celebrating Christmas. We would tell him that we have grown up with it. We would tell him that we always had a Christmas tree and would write letters to Santa. We also always had the big Christmas meal. My father used to put whiskey out for Santa. And in the morning we’d come down and be surprised that Santa had drunk all the whiskey. My mother would say, “Cha pakore bhi rakhdan aisi. (We should have kept some tea and snacks too).” We’d tell her that Santa does not eat Indian food. It was like that.
How did the collaboration with Priyanka Chopra Jonas happen?
I had a meeting with the George Michael estate. George Michael was a big fan of Bend It Like Beckham, because I referenced him in the film. He had invited me for tea after that film as well. I was having a meeting with them and they said, you’re making a Christmas film. I said, yes. And they said, why don’t you take Last Christmas and do a Bollywood version? So it was their idea. Then I called my friend Priyanka. Her first reaction was ‘Are you mad? I don’t sing anymore.’ That’s a long time ago. I said, ‘It’ll be fun. It’s a fun end sequence.’ And bless her. She said she can’t say no to me. She was in London. She came to the studio and kept shaking her head. I told her that she looks great. My dog is in the video with Priyanka. We ended up just shooting it in an hour or two. Then I called Anoushka Shankar. I asked her to play the lovely sitar. She told me she plays big concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. I told her, I know she is Ravi Shankar’s daughter, but it would be great if she can join me on the project. Again, as an Indian woman, she joined to support me.
Is Priyanka a hands-on mother?
Oh yeah… She brought her daughter to one of our work lunches in New York. She had everything ready to keep the little one occupied. It was a lovely thing to see.
Did you give her some tips for motherhood?
Of course. I’m the authority, having had twins. But it is nice that we can speak as professional Indian women who work in the West, and also have an Indian heart and sensibility. People here don’t realise, it can be very lonely out there as an Indian woman doing whatever you’re doing. Especially when you are trying to tell stories because people have a Eurocentric perspective. For me to just get a film made with an Indian lead is a big political act.
Can you elaborate?
I’ve really only been able to get the film made because I had the support of Indians. Anushka Shah at Civic Studios came in for a large chunk of the budget. True Brit, my distributor in the UK also helped. I had my tax credit, courtesy of Rishi Sunak, who is an Indian. Lisa Nandy is our Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom. I did not have a major chunk of the budget. My retired lawyer Sunil Sheth does a lot of charity work. He asked me to come and read a poem at his charity, the Anti-Slavery Society. I read the poem and we spoke about our film. The conversation led to me confessing about being short of two million pounds. He called me the next day. He said they felt very bad about the film not being made and said he will collect money from a consortium of people to back me. I said whether that money comes or not, I’m going to shoot it on faith. The money did come and I was able to film Christmas Karma.
As a British-Indian artiste in a white dominated industry, what was the turning point in your career?
I was very lucky when I made my first film, Bhaji on the Beach. Then in the late ’90s, I saw how everyone was mad about football in Britain. But it was such a male domain and I started working on this script about an Indian girl, who wants to play football. I tried to get it made and everyone rejected it. Everyone was laughing at the idea of a girl playing football. I had submitted the script to the Government body and the Film Council people who gave grants. They were recommending not to finance the film, because they said I would never be able to find an Indian actress, who could bend a ball like David Beckham. I was furious when I heard that. I went down to the offices and started shouting at everyone in typical Punjabi. I asked them if they think Harrison Ford jumps out of helicopters. I said, ‘Have you not heard of how you do things in movies? How dare you reject what I’m doing for that reason?’ Luckily, a new person, who was about to take over at the film council, heard me shouting. He said, ‘Calm down Gurinder. You are a very important part of our industry.’ I said, ‘Well support me then. You have to support me. You have to break through all this rubbish.’ Actually it was John Woodward. He got the script accepted. Then the money came in. The only reason Bend It Like Beckham happened is because I had to go and fight for it. In a way, I am still doing that to some degree.
How do you feel about the legacy of Bend It Like Beckham, especially in women’s sports?
We have gone to change the world of women’s football. The Lionesses and the US team have all gone on record to say that they played football because of watching Bend It Like Beckham.
Bend It Like Beckham and Bride And Prejudice have been quite popular. Are we getting sequels of these?
I think you are getting a sequel to Bend It Like Beckham. I am looking at the storylines and exploring how I’m going to tell the story, it could be as a series, film or both. But for Bride And Prejudice, well, Jane Austen never wrote a sequel.
Are there any movies that you have loved watching recently?
I absolutely loved Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. I don’t often see Hindi films in London. I went to see that one and laughed my head off. I thought Ranveer Singh was amazing. I sent Karan Johar a message after coming out of the cinemas. I said, ‘Dear Karan, I have spent 13 pounds of my own money to see your film. What a great film, I just loved it. I loved how you did the characterisations. It was so modern, true to your own roots and your sensibility.’ There are so many great Hindi films now, that even I think I could potentially do something quite fun, but I can’t do just Hindi. It has to be global in some way.
If you had to collaborate with any of the current actors, who would you pick?
If I name one, everyone else will get upset. I’m afraid I can’t do that, but as I said, I thought Ranveer was amazing in that film. Vicky Kaushal was great in Sardar Udham. I’ve just seen Homebound and loved Ishaan (Khatter) and Vishal (Jethwa). I did the London Academy screening of the movie and the question-and-answer session after. Director Neeraj (Ghaywan) is a lovely guy. To come back to your question, there are many actors I admire. I am seeing their work. I would also quite like to do a Punjabi film. That would be fun.
Also Read: Gurinder Chadha on Priyanka Chopra’s Hands-on Parenting, Moments With Malti Marie – Exclusive
