Cannes Lions 2025: The unskippable power of cinema

Time of India

4 hours ago

Filmmaker
Gurinder Chadha
, OBE, offered a compelling look into cinema's profound ability to spark cultural change and influence societal perspectives. With three decades in the industry, Chadha, known for crafting globally resonant narratives, emphasised the critical role of representation and
strategic storytelling
.
Chadha candidly shared her journey into filmmaking, a path she "sort of fell into" after starting in journalism. Her core motivation, she revealed, was clear: "For me, cinema allows you to change the world. That's the purpose for me." Growing up in Britain, she yearned to see people who looked like her and her family "on the screen center stage, as opposed to on the margins." This deeply personal ambition has clearly translated into impactful work.
She highlighted her globally acclaimed film, "
Bend It Like Beckham
," which remarkably was distributed in "every single country in the world, including North Korea." Chadha believes the film's release shortly after 9/11 played a crucial role in its resonance. "This very sweet... movie came out and invited you to come into the home of a Sikh family in London and experience the idea of dreams and hopes and desires from their perspective," she recounted. Despite initial industry skepticism about its commercial viability, the film became a "global phenomena." Chadha asserted her mission: "I still hold on to the fact that my job is here to reach out to your heart... help you feel heard. Alive, and then make you rethink what's around you, your surroundings, and then put you back together with a feel good ending."
The film's influence extended far beyond the box office, significantly impacting women's football. Chadha proudly stated, "I know the England European champions and the American World Champion, they've all gone on record to say they only got into playing football after watching my film."
This unexpected legacy demonstrates cinema's power to inspire real-world change. She acknowledged the initial resistance she faced, with many questioning the appeal of "girls playing football," but underscored her intent to make a film about "female empowerment" during a time of changing cultural dynamics in Britain.
Chadha's unique approach, honed by her journalistic background, involves a deliberate focus on the audience's perspective. "I always start with the perspective of the audience... What is the audience thinking? How am I going to shift their opinions?" She revealed a key technique: subversion. "I know what you're expecting, and then I change it, and I shift it." She explained how "Bend It Like Beckham," at its core, addresses racism and generational differences, but through unexpected narrative choices. Instead of the typical immigrant story of rebellion, her film shows the daughter taking her parents on her journey, ultimately leading to the father's moving acceptance. "That's terribly moving, because it's subverting your expectations of what you think the immigrant experiences," she noted.
Chadha emphasised the growing challenge for creatives in a world where audiences are increasingly savvy about visual language and storytelling. "Our job as creatives is even harder, I think, to surprise the audience," she stated. She extended this philosophy beyond cinema to commercials and social media, stressing the need for "a twist in there to stop people's [skipping] and go, Oh, I love this." The goal, she believes, is to create content that makes people "feel good" and experience a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) if they don't engage.
In a collective viewing experience, cinema fosters a unique connection. "Seeing a film in a collective space, in a cinema is again that reminder of the universality of emotions and who we are," Chadha concluded, championing the enduring power of the big screen to unite and move audiences.