First and foremost, thank you to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment for the opportunity to review the Blu-Ray Combo Pack of BLINDED BY THE LIGHT!

There have been A LOT of music focused movies, mostly biopics, coming out in the past few years. BLINDED BY THE LIGHT is completely DIFFERENT! It’s still basically about the music, but this movie uses the music, all from “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen, as a motivating factor, to help Javed, a British-Pakistani college arts student, find his path in life. He lives with his parents and two sisters. All money that comes into the household, goes into his father’s pocket to pay things as his father decides. The family is saving for a wedding for the oldest family member. Javed has been writing poetry and song lyrics for a friend’s band, is trying to find himself and a passion that he can put focus into. He enrolls in a writing class taught by Ms Clay (Hayley Atwell). She pushes him to  come out of his shell and find his own voice in writing. During lunch, he runs into another student named Roops (Aaron Phagura), who introduces him to Bruce Springsteen’s music via cassette.

Inspired by Springsteen’s music, he puts his focus into writing and turns in some of his work to Ms. Clay. After going through and reading some of his work, it is returned to Javed. Mr. Evans, a neighbor, finds one of his poems that talks about the World War II. He knocks at the door and proceeds to tell Javed that he definitely needs to pursue writing, because his talent shows, giving a voice to those that were voiceless. Javed’s parents, specifically his father, don’t like that he is pursuing anything outside of economics, which is the path that his father dictated he follow.  While Ms. Clay is giving some of Javed’s work back to him, a classmate named Eliza (Nell Williams) who is rebellious and very political sees that their teacher believes in Javed’s talents as a writer. She had caught his eye from the moment he walked in the class, but would also be another thing that his parents would disagree him choosing to pursue. The thing about finding a talent and love, is that you can’t dictate a talent you were basically given the same way that the heart wants what it wants. Javed submits an article/review to the college paper and is immediately turned away. He doesn’t give up, persistently asking the person in charge of the paper. Finally, he is told to shore up the beginning and he will get his piece published.

Things start to go right for Javed and then, for his father and family, things take a turn when his father is laid off from his job. His mother starts taking on more sewing work. Ms. Clay adds fuel to the fire when she tells Javed that she can get him a job working for the newspaper, after she submitted his piece that was written for the college paper he works for. While he’s in his room writing, his dad sees all the posters on the wall and catches him listening to music, which he does not approve of. Around this time, Javed and Eliza go on their first date and decides to stay out later than normal, which also upsets his father. Javed then is invited to dinner at Eliza’s house, where her parents, who do not approve of a lot of what she is doing, tell Javed of the many things she’s done, including some of the people she’s brought home.

Javed finds out that Springsteen will be touring the UK and will be stopping in Luton. He is hired by the friend at the newspaper that Ms. Clay put in a good word for him to work at and starts saving money for tickets. Things even get worse when Mr. Evans yet again comes over and tells Javed and his family that he’s made the front page of the paper. This causes more problems for the family. The collective is already under enough stress with the imminent wedding that will be taking place pretty soon along with the financial problems. He decides to skip school and spend some alone time with Eliza except his sister comes home for a book that she had forgotten. She lets him know that he “owes her one.” The favor returned, is a day party that she wants to attend, skipping school and Javed has to go with her. The wedding is scheduled for the same day that the Springsteen tickets are to go on sale. Javed asks his sister to make an excuse for him if anyone asks where he is and takes off to purchase his tickets. While the family is on the way to the wedding, a protest stops the family. It’s the worst scenario, because it is a protest against Pakistani people. Javed’s family is caught right in the middle. His father is attacked and is left wondering and asking where Javed is at. He shows up at the very end of the attack, devastated. When the family gets home, Javed tells the family about the concert and tickets, his father asks about how he got the money and he explains that he’s been working at the newspaper. His father is upset that he’s been keeping money from him and tears the tickets up. Javed leaves. The next day, he sees Eliza and she asks how concert tickets could be more important than his family. He basically breaks up with her, telling her “there is no point.” Ms. Clay (she has a knack for doing things at the perfect time doesn’t she!?) tells Javed that she needs to speak with him. She shares that she had entered his written piece into a competition and he had won. The prize: a trip to Monmouth College in New Jersey, in the vicinity where Bruce Springsteen grew up!

RATING: A++

Warner Bros Home Entertainment’s home release information (Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital HD) for BLINDED BY THE LIGHT!

From writer-director-producer Gurinder Chadha (“Bend It Like Beckham”) comes the inspirational drama “Blinded by the Light,” set to the music and lyrics of Bruce Springsteen’s timeless songs, a joyful story of courage, love, hope, family and the unique ability of music to lift the human spirit.

Inspired by a true story, based on Sarfraz Manzoor’s acclaimed memoir “Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll,” “Blinded by the Light” was directed by Chadha from a screenplay written by Manzoor, Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges (“Bend It Like Beckham”). “Blinded by the Light” stars Viveik Kalra (TV’s “Next of Kin”), Kulvinder Ghir (“Bend It Like Beckham”), Meera Ganatra (“Three Dots and a Dash,” “PREMature”), Nell Williams (TV’s “Game of Thrones,” “The Audience”), Aaron Phagura (TV’s “Informer,” TV’s “Doctor Who”), Hayley Atwell (“Captain America: The First Avenger,” “The Duchess”) and Dean-Charles Chapman (TV’s “Game of Thrones,” “Man Up”).

The story is underscored by the music and poetic lyrics of Springsteen, who gave Chadha his blessing from the film’s inception.

Chadha, Jane Barclay and Jamal Daniel produced the film, with Tory Metzger, Renee Witt, Peter Touche, Stephen Spence, Hannah Leader, Tracy Nurse and Mayeda Berges serving as executive producers.

Chadha’s behind-the-scenes creative team included director of photography Ben Smithard, production designer Nick Ellis, editor Justin Krish and costume designer Annie Hardinge. The original score music is by A.R. Rahman.

“Blinded By The Light” will be available on Blu-ray and DVD. The Blu-ray features a Blu-ray disc with the film and special features in hi-definition, and a Digital version of the movie. The DVD features a DVD with the film and a special feature in standard definition, and a Digital version of the movie.

“Blinded By The Light” will also be available on Movies Anywhere. Using the free Movies Anywhere app and website, consumers can access all their eligible movies by connecting their Movies Anywhere account with their participating digital retailer accounts.

Cast:

Vivik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Ganatra, Nell Williams, Aaron Phagura, Hayley Atwell, Dean-Charles Chapman

Synopsis:

The film tells the story of Javed (Viveik Kalra), a British teen of Pakistani descent growing up in the town of Luton, England, in 1987. Amidst the racial and economic turmoil of the times, he writes poetry as a means to escape the intolerance of his hometown and the inflexibility of his traditional father (Kulvinder Ghir). But when a classmate (Aaron Phagura) introduces him to the music of Bruce Springsteen, Javed sees parallels to his working-class life in the powerful lyrics. As Javed discovers a cathartic outlet for his own pent-up dreams, he also begins to find the courage to express himself in his own unique voice.

Trailer:

“Blinded By The Light” Blu-ray contains the following special features:

• Memoir to Movie
• The Most Crazy Thing
• Deleted Scenes

“Blinded By The Light” DVD contains the following special feature:

• Memoir to Movie

Blinded By The Light is available on Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital HD TODAY!

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