Gurinder Chadha

Infobox Actor


caption =
birthdate = birth date and age|1960|01|10
birthplace = Nairobi, Kenya
birthname =
spouse = Paul Mayeda Berges
yearsactive = 1990 - present
awards = Order of the British Empire Gurinder Chadha, OBE, (born 10 January 1960 in Nairobi, Kenya), is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in the UK. She is most famous for the hit films "Bhaji on the Beach" (1993), "Bend It Like Beckham" (2002), "Bride and Prejudice" (2004) and "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging" (2008).

Background

Gurinder Chadha was born in Kenya but her family moved to Southall, England when she was two years of age. There Chadha attended Clifton Primary School. BBC News (Friday December 14 2007) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7144692.stm Chadha to direct school Nativity] Accessed 2007-12-14] She got a job as a BBC Radio reporter until she made a documentary for Channel 4 in 1989. Chadha moved into film production in 1993. She is married to Japanese-American filmmaker Paul Mayeda Berges, with whom she sometimes collaborates. They have a twin son and daughter, born in 2007.

Career

In the 1980s she began making documentaries for the BBC, and in 1989 released "I'm British but..." for Channel 4, which followed the lives of young British Asians. In 1990, Chadha set up a production company, Umbi Films. Her first film was the 11-minute "Nice Arrangement" (1991) about a British Asian wedding.

She wrote the screenplay for "The Mistress of Spices" (based upon the novel of the same name by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni) with Berges, who directed the film.

In 2005 she appeared on the BBC show "Your London", in which she told the story of a Sikh prince who lived in London in the 19th century. In 2006 she took part in the BBC genealogy series "Who Do You Think You Are?" in which she traced her Sikh family roots back to Kenya and before that to India's Punjab.

Chadha was awarded an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) on 17 June 2006.

Although the BBC had confirmed that Chadha was to direct the forthcoming feature film adaptation of the popular TV series "Dallas", she left the project in 2007. [Friday April 21 2006) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4931704.stm Chadha to direct new Dallas film] ]

Filmography

* "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging" (2008)
* "Paris, je t'aime" (2006) segment "Quais de Seine"
* "The Mistress of Spices" (2005) (screenplay only)
* "Bride and Prejudice" (2004)
* "Bend It Like Beckham" (2002)
* "What's Cooking?" (2000)
* "Rich Deceiver" (1995), BBC two-part drama
* "A Nice Arrangement" (1994)
* "What Do You Call an Indian Woman Who's Funny?" (1994)
* "Bhaji on the Beach" (1993)
* "Acting Our Age" (1992)
* "Pain, Passion and Profit" (1992) (V)
* "I'm British But..." (1990) (TV)

Appearances

* "Who Do You Think You Are?" (2006)
* "Your London" (2005)
* "Koffee with Karan" (2005)

See also

* Women's Cinema

References

External links

* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/502103/ Biography and filmography] from the British Film Institute's Screenonline
* [http://www.sawnet.org/cinema/?Chadha+Gurinder SAWNET biography]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0149446/ Gurinder Chadha] at the Internet Movie Database
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1821203,00.html Interview: Gurinder Chadha] "The Observer"
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/get_started/wdytya_s2_celeb_gallery_06.shtml Gurinder Chadha on "Who Do You Think You Are?"]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/jul/13/news.culture1 Interview: Gurinder Chadha] "The Guardian"