It made ‘perfect sense’ to make secular festive film – Christmas Karma director

Film director Gurinder Chadha has said her modern-day adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel A Christmas Carol aims to reflect contemporary Britain.

Chadha, 65, best known for directing the 2002 hit Bend It Like Beckham, has reimagined Scrooge as Mr Sood, a rich British Indian, played by The Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar, who is haunted by three ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, Pose actor Billy Porter and British singer Boy George.

Christmas Karma also explores themes of immigration and identity, following Mr Sood’s journey from his childhood in Uganda’s South Asian community, expelled under former president Idi Amin’s regime, to a life shaped by early poverty and lasting bitterness.

Over the course of the film, Mr Sood embarks on an unforgettable and heart-warming journey of self-discovery and redemption, learning an important lesson about compassion and the true spirit of Christmas from an array of spirits and much-loved characters.

Former EastEnders actor Danny Dyer, singer Pixie Lott, Bridgerton star Charithra Chandran, Downton Abbey actor Hugh Bonneville and Sanditon’s Leo Suter also star in the movie.

“I felt that if I was going to make a Christmas film based on Charles Dickens’ amazing novel, I had to ask myself what Dickens was trying to say at the time,” Chadha told the PA news agency.

“He was trying to make Victorian society more empathetic, more tolerant, more understanding of people’s circumstances and to remind us that we’re all connected. It doesn’t matter who you are, we’re all part of the same story.”

“You can go out and wave flags, you can go out and attack people, you can fight over borders and all the rest of it but at the end of the day, we are all connected,” Chadha said. “As Bruce Springsteen says, ‘No one wins unless we all win’.”

Chadha, who was born into a Punjabi Sikh Khatri family in Kenya, said Christmas was her favourite holiday as a child and that she and her family still go to church on Christmas Eve.

“It doesn’t matter what religion you are, everyone understands that every faith teaches empathy and giving, especially during difficult times,” Chadha explained.

“For me, it makes perfect sense to make a Christmas film that is both secular but also carries the wisdom of all religions.

“It’s a reminder that this is a time when we come together as friends and family, to show more empathy and charity to each other and to the world.”

Nayyar, 44, said he focused on his character’s pain when portraying Mr Sood.

“I explored the character’s pain, trying not to focus on how other actors have played Scrooge,” Nayyar said. “I didn’t even think of him as Scrooge, I always thought of him as Mr Sood, an immigrant carrying the weight of past hardships, who has lost his money, his wealth, his status.

“That loss has particular significance, not just for a man, but for a South Asian man, because status was often tied to wealth, it was how respect was earned.

“Then, of course, working with Gurinder, and shooting the film out of sequence, it was sometimes unclear if we were in the present, past or future.

“It took a real effort from the entire cast and crew to take me on this journey, and I hope audiences enjoy the result.”

Christmas Karma is in cinemas on Friday, November 14.