Bollywood-inspired ‘Christmas Carol' to feature anti-refugee Scrooge

Telegraph

11 hours ago

A Bollywood-inspired adaptation of A Christmas Carol will feature a version of Ebenezer Scrooge who 'despises refugees', the director has revealed.
The 'modern-day' musical, based on the Charles Dickens 1843 novella, will feature the titular character as a 'British-Indian' man named Sood.
In her director's statement, Gurinder Chadha said: 'Our Scrooge, called Sood, is a rich British Indian who despises poor people and refugees in particular.'
'Sood has decided that immense wealth brings him status and standing, so to hell with the poor, unemployed and disenfranchised who didn't work as hard as him to get where he is.'
Ms Chadha, who is well-known for Bend It Like Beckham and Bride & Prejudice, suggested the inspiration for her film came from well-known faces in British politics, saying: 'Sounds familiar to some of our current British Indian politicians?'
The film, titled Christmas Karma and slated for release in November 2025, is described in a press release as a celebration of 'all of modern Britain's communities and cultures'.
The London-set musical 'is very true to the original text and sentiment', according to Ms Chadha, and will teach audiences 'the urgent lesson of how prejudice, poverty and division in all its forms shapes Sood and our society today'.
The British-Indian director added: 'A hundred and eighty-two years later, Dickens' novella still resonates globally in today's sometimes harsh world.'
The novella is a tale of redemption which follows Scrooge as he meets a supernatural reckoning. Ms Chadha writes that it is the author's 'plea for a kinder, more tolerant Britain'.
Playing the protagonist in the upcoming film is Kunal Nayyar, known for his role as Raj Koothrappali on the US sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
He is joined by Boy George as the Ghost of Christmas Future, Eva Longoria as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Hugh Bonneville as the Ghost of Jacob Marley and Billy Porter as the Ghost of Christmas Present.
EastEnders star Danny Dyer will also feature in the musical as a London cabbie.
Ms Chadha described the film as her 'ode to Dickens' and Italian-American director Frank Capra – who made It's a Wonderful Life – but 'with a contemporary twist'.
She said she was also inspired by one of her family members who was a Ugandan refugee.
'He came to Britain around Christmas time having lost his home in Uganda as a child and arriving to a hostile welcome as a refugee,' she said.
'For years he didn't feel Christmas was for him and the hardships he faced as a child left him despising it.'
The film's soundtrack has been influenced by gospel, reimagined Christmas songs, Christmas carols, Bhangra, traditional music of Punjab, as well as rap and classic pop.
Ms Chadha said that she hopes the audience will 'be invested to beg [Sood] to move on, transform, and be part of a society that doesn't allow Scrooges, twisted and shaped by prejudice to grow'.
She added: 'It is an affectionate, hopeful, musical celebration of the Britain of today and the future for our kids.'
It marks the latest in a series of controversial takes on the author's novels.
In 2023, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight adapted Dickens' 1861 novel Great Expectations into a six-part series for the BBC that featured mental health issues, prison breaks, toxic relationships, recreational drug use and self-harm.
The limited historical drama series, which rates at a low 5.4 on IMDb, also featured an expletive-laden script and an ethnically diverse cast.
Mr Knight also created a bold retelling of A Christmas Carol in 2019, which shocked period purists with its radical and horror-filled narrative.
The BBC helmed another controversial adaptation of Dickens's work when it filmed Bleak House in the style of a television soap opera in 2005.
Andrew Davies, who wrote the adaptations' 16 episodes, said at the time that he hoped to attract a younger audience to the classic tale by highlighting the novel's sexual themes and stripping away its Victorian 'sentimentality'.