Writer Sarfraz Manzoor returned to his home town this evening (July 30) to watch the premiere of Blinded by the Light, the movie based on his life growing up in Luton, hoping it can provide the Notting Hill effect.
Based on his memoir, Greetings From Bury Park, which details his teenage years in the town and his love of rock legend Bruce Springsteen, the journalist came to Cineworld with director Gurinder Chadha – of Bend It Like Beckham fame – and Viveik Kalra, the actor that plays him in the film.
The movie, which was largely filmed in Luton, stars Gavin and Stacey star Rob Brydon, Kulvinder Ghir and Hayley Atwell, and goes on general release in cinemas all over the country on August 9.
Manzoor said: “I was talking to Gurinder Chadha, the director, and saying I was hoping to do for Luton what Richard Curtis did for Notting Hill. I want tourists to come and see Greenfields cafe in The Mall, where I used to hang out and where we filmed some scenes.
“I think it would be nice to put Luton on the map for different reasons that we usually hear about. I’ve been going to see screenings in America and people all know about Luton in LA, San Francisco and Phoenix and that’s got to be a good thing.
“I was really hoping I could get Bruce to come to Luton at some point and show him my home town. He’s read the book, which is kind of crazy, so he knows all about the Arndale Centre, the Vauxhall car factory and me growing up in this town and, not only has he read the book, he allowed us to use his music in this film. He saw it and he said, ‘thank you for treating me so beautifully’.
