There?s a tone of exasperation as Gurinder Chadha tells FE from London that people are asking her to do another Bend it Like Beckham every time. ?It?s hard to repeat the success of Bend It?,? she laughs, and adds that her latest, It?s a Wonderful Afterlife, co-produced?by The Indian Film Company, with a nod to Frank Capra?s 1946 classic, is more the world of Bend it Like Beckham but a totally different genre. It started out as a horror film, then transformed into a supernatural comedy. So, does Chadha find it hard to get funds for the films she does what with the western film industries still under meltdown pressures? ?I am lucky,? she says, ?my budgets are as low as possible.? Excerpts from an interview:
Your films have done well at the box-office? But with the meltdown, did you have trouble funding It?s a Wonderful Afterlife?
Luckily for me, I am in a good position. I am one of the few film makers in Britain whose films perform at the box office. My budget is as low as possible, so there is always some return for the investor.
What?s the budget of It?s a Wonderful Afterlife?
We made it for 6 million pounds. It?s a story about an obsessed mother who will go to any lengths, including murder, to marry off her daughter.
Are you under pressure to make another Bend It Like Beckham?
Yes, all the time. It?s hard to repeat the success of Bend it Like Beckham. People are interested in what I am doing. I do try to make films that people want to go and watch in the cinema. I make very populist films. I have big audiences all over the world?India, UK, Australia, South Africa, Scandinavia, New Zealand and America.
Your films are a big draw with the diaspora?
My films are humanistic, they are British from a different point of view, they are about communities that are diasporic, who have migrated families and understand the syndrome. My films are universal.
Bend It Like Beckham could well have been placed in the Greek community of Australia or the Armenian community in America.
Migrant cultures interest me, and as more global cities get diverse, my films appeal to a wider world.
You seem to have had a lot of fun filming your latest?
There is a lot of fun in this, especially for British Indians, as they will get all the humour. I didn?t want to make an issue-based film. I try not to repeat myself. I am setting my own agenda. This one started out as a horror film, then became more supernatural than horror. It?s more the world of Bend it Like Beckham in a totally different genre.
Your partner, Paul Mayeda Berges, is a film maker himself.
What are you working on next?
We are writing away. We are working on two different scripts?one a children?s film based in Kerala and the other a historical epic. I want to explore my own roots, my history. I am working on Dominique Lapierre?s Freedom at Midnight.
What is the state of the British film industry and Hollywood?
Hollywood is in a bit of a sad state, ruled as it is by sequels, prequels and franchises. In the process, ordinary stories are suffering in Hollywood, and that?s had an impact on the British film industry as well.