Gurinder Chadha
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Gurinder Chadha OBE |
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Chadha in 2013.
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| Born |
10 January 1960 Nairobi, Kenya |
| Residence | London, UK |
| Occupation | Film director, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Spouse(s) | Paul Mayeda Berges |
| Children | 2 |
Gurinder Chadha OBE (born 10 January 1960) is an English film director of Punjabi Sikh Kenyan Asian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. This common theme among her work showcases the trials of Indian women living in England and how they must reconcile their converging traditional and modern cultures. Although many of her films seem like simple quirky comedies about Indian women, they actually address many social and emotional issues, especially ones faced by immigrants caught between two worlds.
Much of her work also consists of adaptations from book to film, but with a different flare. She is best known for the hit films Bhaji on the Beach (1993), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Bride and Prejudice (2004), Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008), and the comedy film It's a Wonderful Afterlife (2010). Her upcoming project is the partition drama film Viceroy's House (2017).
Gurinder Chadha was born in Nairobi, Kenya, then a British colony. Her family was part of the Indian diaspora in East Africa. They moved to Southall, West London when she was two years of age, where she attended Clifton Primary School. Chadha's father faced much prejudice because of his appearance as a Sikh Indian, wearing a turban and having a beard. Eventually, the family opened a shop to provide the family with an economic toehold.
Many of her future films would draw on her personal experience of being an Indian and English at the same time, and how she dealt with the duality of her identity. For example, she would not wear traditional Indian clothing, and she refused to cook for her family. In her mind, having all the women in the kitchen cooking while the men sat and ate was oppressive, although it is a living part of Indian culture. Therefore, she sat at the table with the men and was "extremely outspoken." After graduating from the University of East Anglia, Chadha attended the London College of Printing in 1984/85 and studied as a post-graduate.
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