Gurinder Chadha: 'I've Created My Own Genre, Really: Diaspora Filmmaking'

Gurinder Chadha has long worked in that liminal space where cultures overlap and stories acquire the texture of lived migration. With Christmas Karma, her diasporic reimagining of A Christmas Carol, she returns to that crossroads with a gentler, more ruminative gaze. The familiar preoccupations are all here: the pull of memory, the ache of belonging, the persistent negotiations of identity. But they surface with the unforced clarity of a filmmaker who knows that politics sometimes arise from the simple act of insisting on presence.

In this conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Chadha reflects on why Dickens and Capra continue to speak across eras, and how one navigates an industry where the indie theatrical window grows ever narrower.

Edited excerpts from a conversation:

You described Christmas Karma as an ode to A Christmas Carol but also It’s a Wonderful Life — both stories steeped in redemption, generosity and second chances. Growing up South Asian in the diaspora, what resonated with you in those stories, and why reinterpret them through a desi lens?

Gurinder Chadha: I grew up in England, and Christmas was a big deal for us. It’s my favourite time of year. We all came together — the whole nation did, really. As a kid I wrote letters to Santa Claus. My dad used to leave out whisky for him, and in the morning he’d say, “Santa’s drunk all my whisky!” We’d have lunch, then watch the Queen’s speech, then everyone came round and we ate together. We still do that; my kids love a good traditional Christmas Day.

My tradition starts with watching It’s a Wonderful Life. I make my kids watch it. At first they’d complain it was black and white, but I insist because that film teaches you everything about how to conduct your life. I’ve loved it for years. A while back, I felt I wanted to make my own Capra-esque Christmas film. That film was inspired by Dickens, so I went back to the source. I went to Dickens House in Clerkenwell, walked around and thought: if Dickens were alive today, and if he were me with my upbringing, what story would he tell? Dickens was writing about Victorian England, with huge disparities between rich and poor. Not so different from now.

Both A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life explore the human condition, which appeals to me. My worldview is British, Indian, American — diaspora. I've created my own genre, really: diaspora filmmaking. Only a few filmmakers like Ang Lee with Wedding Banquet or Baz Luhrmann with Strictly Ballroom were doing that early on. These stories are about negotiating identity, celebrating culture while acknowledging struggle. With Christmas Karma, I’ve taken it further. I made it for my children, who see race very differently to how I did growing up. They’re almost colour-blind. They don’t understand why I still pick up on things. So using the Scrooge story, I wanted to show how someone carrying childhood trauma can still find redemption today.

The Ugandan Asian arc is based on a true story — someone we knew who came to Britain as a refugee and became very grinchy at Christmas because of what they’d lost. I took that story to give him redemption. He actually texted me after seeing the film, saying he didn’t think he’d like it but did. I replied, “Ever the Grinch.”
If you carry the struggles or achievements of past generations, the film will resonate. For me, filmmaking is about taking you into a world both familiar and unfamiliar, so you see from a different perspective. And there are very few stories from our perspective.

Over the years, it feels like the rage of your earlier work has mellowed. Not necessarily in a bad way — rage is vital, but so is empathy. Do you think the way forward is to let go of that which has hurt us and move toward a more redemptive worldview, like the one your children seem to have?

GC: I think that’s for people who’ve lived that experience to decide. As a filmmaker, I live my own truth — what feels authentic. For someone like me, making a film at all is a political act.

People forget how hard it was. Everyone loves Bend It Like Beckham now, but I remember the New York Times review by A.O. Scott saying the film didn’t represent Asians living in Britain. I thought, how can an American man say that to me when I made a film about my own childhood? The entire British Asian community embraced it as accurate. So I’m always dealing with people putting me in boxes — even with Christmas Karma: why should I adapt Dickens? Why make a Christmas film? People project their expectations onto me. But I always do what I want... I like subverting expectations. You think I’m one thing; I show you something else.

My films carry humour, pathos, empathy — those are the emotions we hold as diaspora people. Either you go with it or you don’t. But students around the world study my films for that reason. My work has become a kind of historical documentation of my parents’ lives, my life, what you call NRIs and I call the diaspora. I’m still shocked more people haven’t been able to make films from this perspective. Just still being here after all these years is, in itself, a miracle. A Christmas miracle.

A still from 'Bend It Like Beckham'

You’ve long championed independent cinema, but the landscape has shifted. Theatrical space has shrunk, streaming has changed the economics, and distributors are wary of first-time ideas. How are you navigating this ecosystem?

GC: I don’t know. The landscape has changed totally. It’s much harder now to make independent films for theatrical release. We’re still recovering from lockdown. Audiences prefer to stay home and watch platforms. Now we’re seeing micro-dramas emerging. Everything is changing, and AI will change it more.

As filmmakers, we have to stay mindful of how audiences watch stories. But storytelling will always exist; we just adapt. I’d be sad to see the end of theatrical releases because cinema is a fantastic art form on the big screen. For Christmas Karma, I wanted that. But commercial pressure is tough; it’s expensive.

In the US and Canada, Christmas Karma will be on Amazon from December 3 on pay-per-view. That works for us because I know I can’t compete with Wicked and big studio films, but families can still watch it and it will perform in its own way. India is different; it still has a film culture, though shrinking. I wanted to make a big musical for the big screen, and I’ve done that. Next time I’ll have to think differently. Every filmmaker is wrestling with these questions now.

Would you be open to making a micro-drama if that’s what the audience increasingly wants?

GC: Funnily enough, just yesterday I even thought of a good idea for a micro-drama. But they feel a bit cheesy at the moment, a little vulgar. I’m okay with vulgar — cheesy I can’t do!

It’s not really a genre; it’s a format. Eventually there’ll be room for nuance, right?

GC: One of the most exciting things is the democratisation of storytelling. You can make a film on a phone. I love that. I’ve struggled my whole career to tell my stories through conventional means, and it's only got harder. But these developments mean people can tell their own stories in their own ways, and audiences will find them. That can only be a good thing.

'Christmas Karma' is brought to India by PVRINOX Pictures, and will be releasing on 12th December.