JEDDAH: Gurinder Chadha, the BAFTA-nominated director of "Bend It Like Beckham" and "Blinded By the Light," acknowledged Saturday at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, that she is well aware of the rumours surrounding "Bullet Train" star Aaron Taylor-bid Johnson's to become the next James Bond and would like to take the credit if it materialises.

Chadha remarked on her decision to cast Taylor-Johnson as the lead in the 2008 film "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging" that she "had to fight with Paramount Studios at the time" when speaking at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

She reportedly told then-skeptical Paramount executives, "I think he's going to be a big star. She reportedly told the audience, "I said, 'believe me,' and cast him, so, of course, I will take all credit," as Variety reported

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Chadha talked extensively about her work and the challenges she encountered in the profession for an hour.

"As a BBC news reporter, I initially discovered that I had little control over the story. I had to follow instructions since I was a journalist. But it offered me the abilities to direct the story in a way that is understandable to the whole audience, "said Chadha.
Despite concentrating on producing watchable, mainstream movies, the filmmaker acknowledged that getting her ideas off the ground is still difficult. Despite her belief that her 2019 film "Blinded By The Light" had a wide commercial appeal, Chadha informed the audience that it had been rejected by both BBC and Channel 4.

"We worked so hard to produce the fantastic movie. We go to Sundance and engaged in this epic bidding battle. That encounter need to be had by every filmmaker. With Warner Brothers, we ultimately spent 17 million (dollars). The vote of confidence was excellent "said Chadha.

According to "Variety," when asked if she experienced tokenism in the UK, the filmmaker responded as follows: "Having been the only one for a long time, I have the opposite opinion. People are attempting to change this statistic, which in my opinion is disgraceful. There are only one or two Indian women filmmakers in Britain now, and I was the first one to do it in 1994 with "Bhaji on the Beach" (British-Indian directors in Britain). I serve as a reminder that things need to change." As she "would like to make a film in Punjabi" and has "a brilliant idea" in mind, Chadha asked Indian audience members if they knew of any Punjabi-speaking scriptwriters as she concluded her speech.

For the time being, though, it is said that the director is preparing to helm an original Disney musical about an Indian princess.

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