In cinemas this week: Springsteen-soundtracked Blinded By The Light was given nod from the Boss

Bend It Like Beckham fans rejoice – a sequel’s about to hit cinemas!

Well, not quite. Blinded By The Light tells of the experiences of a British Pakistani boy growing up in the 1980s.

But director Gurinder Chadha says she sees it as a spiritual sequel to her career breakout Bend It Like Beckham.

Just like that movie, the new one has been described as “the feelgood hit of the summer” but this time round David Beckham has been replaced by Bruce Springsteen.

Blinded By The Light has been adapted from the memoir of journalist Sarfraz Manzoor, who Chadha had bonded with over a mutual love of the rock star known simply as “The Boss”.

The director first saw the New Jersey-born musician live in 1984 and has followed him since, while Manzoor interviewed Springsteen in his capacity as a journalist plenty of times.

Says Chadha: “Sarfraz is like a superfan of Bruce’s. He’s seen him 150 times, so much so that Bruce recognises him at concerts, probably because he’s the only Pakistani in the audience and he’s got a big afro!”

And they knew they needed the nod from The Boss before beginning the film, as Chadha admits: “We knew we couldn’t do it without Bruce’s blessing.”

When the book was published, the pair attended a screening of the Springsteen documentary The Promise in London, where they ran into the singer himself on the red carpet.

“We told him we wanted to make the movie and he said, ‘Sounds good,’” recalls the director.

“He loved the message – how music can transcend class, race, any kind of background.”

The film, set in Britain in 1987, tackles subjects including widespread unemployment and racial tensions, and Chadha says there are parallels with today’s society but that things have also moved on.

“We’ve got scenes where people have written ‘Pakis Out’ or drawn a swastika on a wall, and no one in my art department wanted to do it,” she recalls.

“I said, ‘Give me the spray can and I’ll write it.’”

Just as with Bend It Like Beckham, which told the story of a football-infatuated Punjabi Sikh girl, Chadha hopes Blinded By The Light can have a cultural impact.

“Even though it’s nothing to do with girls playing football, in its heart it’s my sequel to that film,” she says.

“I think Bend It Like Beckham had an impact on the British Sikh community, I hope this film will do something similar for British Pakistanis.”

Key to the film are the songs of Bruce Springsteen, and the movie-makers stayed in touch with the singer’s team to get the sign-off on the usage of his work.

“We sent the script to him, and the message we got back was, ‘I’m all good with this. Give them what they want.’”

Chadha calls the film a “hybrid musical” as it features the characters singing along to Springsteen hits on their Walkmans – ask anyone who was alive in the 80s, youngsters – while the work of Springsteen is woven into the fabric of the film itself.

Viveik Kalra is the star and the cast includes Rob Brydon, a self-confessed Springsteen uber-fan who jumped at the chance to take on a cameo during which he dons a mullet wig and sings Thunder Road.

Blinded By The Light (12A) is in cinemas from Friday August 9.