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Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha has begun shooting for her next production Christmas Karma, a Bollywood musical set in contemporary London and inspired by Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Kunal Nayyar, best known for his role in the popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory, is the lead actor in a star-studded global cast, which includes Eva Longoria, Boy George, Billy Porter, Hugh Bonneville, Charithra Chandran and Nitin Ganatra.
Gurinder is also the producer and writer, and the music is by six-time Ivor Novello award-winning singer and songwriter Gary Barlow, apart from Shaznay Lewis and Nitin Sawhney.
Shooting started on April 22.
Christmas Karma sees Gurinder return to the big screen following her time working on the Indian historical television series Beecham House.
Her last feature film was Blinded By The Light, inspired by the music of Bruce Springsteen, which premiered at Sundance 2019.
Commenting on the project, Gurinder said in a statement: “Just as I have enjoyed Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life for many years, my aim with Christmas Karma is to create a festive classic for our times and for generations to come.”
The soundtrack, she promised, “will be banging, influenced by gospel, bhangra, carols and classic pop songs. You will not be able to sit still.”
Co-executive producer Zygi Kamasa said: “Gurinder has an incredible ability to tell such interesting contemporary British stories. It’s been over 20 years since we made Bend It Like Beckham together and this film has all those hallmarks of heart, comedy, drama and an incredibly feel-good ending.
“It will be a celebration of multi-cultural London set to an incredible set of songs written by Gary, Shaznay, and Nitin, using musical genres from rap, to disco to bhangra, and will be the ultimate Christmas movie which we will release in December 2025.”
Reflecting on his role, Kunal said: “To explore a beloved holiday tale through the eyes of an immigrant story (much like my own) is exactly the kind of movie that I believe will resonate with so many of us who are searching for the meaning of home.”
Indo-Asian News Service
