It’s all well and good to do it when you’re in within the world, but when you’re in 2019 and you’re doing that stuff in a car park randomly, people give you some funny looks.Bruce Springsteen Lyrics database : Blinded by the light Bruce Springsteen lyrics -īlinded by the lightMadman drummers bummers and Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat It was a learning experience, very out of my comfort zone. Then we’d start practicing these weird ’80s dance moves. Our director Gurinder would think of a dance move and say it and then we’d all look at each other like we had no idea, so then she’d YouTube it. I distinctly remember us being in the offices for the film, and they’re open offices, but we would just be blasting music out, singing at the top of our lungs. It was just us being together for those periods of time, singing and dancing together in public places, which was incredibly embarrassing.
That was something we did in the build-up to getting onto set in the rehearsals. I had no experience of anything like that. Was that something you had experience with, or was it daunting to tackle that aspect? The film is also perhaps a bit more musical-theater-esque in some moments, asking you to sing “Thunder Road” to Eliza on the steps and then the actually choreographed “Born to Run” sequence. There was no making stuff up there was just this wonderful source material that was in the shape of a human being. I didn’t really have to go to set and go, “Oh, right, what did Javed have for breakfast this morning?” and make up silly stuff like that because if I had a question, I just sent Saf a message and got an answer. So, for something to resonate with you, despite the fact that circumstances are so totally different, speaks volumes to the amount of heart it has interwoven in it. However, the circumstances of the character, what he was going through, were totally different from my circumstances. What was amazing about this script was that it resonated with me more than anything else I’d ever read. I’ve got very supportive parents and family. Did you face similar resistance or struggles as your character? Was that something you could relate to? You’ve chosen to become an actor, which is a similar nontraditional, creative career path as writing. We took a picture there, and a couple of weeks later we were filming there in exactly the same spot because nothing had changed. We were around the same tables with the same laminated menus, and everything was exactly the same. We sat down in a cafe called Greenfields at what was called the Arndale Centre - it’s now called the mall - in Luton, at this cafe they used to hang out when they were younger. And after a day of doing that, we ending up meeting with Aaron, who plays Roops in the film, and Amolak, who is the real Roops. He showed me loads and loads of his original poems. He showed me his first house where he grew up, his second house where he grew up, the spots he used to hang out. I’ll show you around my home town.” And then he did. He said, “Let’s meet at the British Library.” Later, he, “Actually, let’s go to Luton.
I remember we were going to meet at the British Library. I spent quite a bit of time with Sarfraz before we started shooting. How much did you get to interact with and get insight into Javed from him? Did you really get into the nitty-gritty of his poems (which are seen on screen in the film) or anything like that? This is inspired by Sarfraz’s story, and he co-wrote the screenplay.