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Discussing Selected Themes in Gurinder Chadha's Bhaji

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Discussing Selected Themes in Gurinder Chadha's Bhaji MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND AMERICAN STUDIES ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Soňa Šašinková Food, Family and Football: Discussing Selected Themes in Gurinder Chadha’s Bhaji on the Beach and Bend it Like Beckham B.A. Major Thesis Supervisor: doc. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A. 2007 I hereby declare that I have worked on this Bachelor Thesis independently, using only primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. ………………………….. 1 I wish to express many thanks to my supervisor, doc. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A. for her kind and valuable advice, help and support. 2 Table of Contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 4 2 Historical Background .............................................................................................. 5 2.1 Indian Migration from the Beginning ................................................................. 5 2.2 Indian Migration in the 20 th Century .................................................................. 6 3 Stereotypes ................................................................................................................. 8 4 Gurinder Chadha and her Work .......................................................................... 11 4.1 Gurinder Chadha ............................................................................................... 11 4.2 Bhaji on the Beach (1993) ................................................................................ 12 4.3 Bend it Like Beckham (2002) ............................................................................ 13 5 Themes ..................................................................................................................... 14 5.1 Food .................................................................................................................. 14 5.1.1 Food in Bhaji on the Beach ....................................................................... 15 5.1.2 Food in Bend it Like Beckham .................................................................. 18 5.2 Family ............................................................................................................... 20 5.2.1 Family in Bend it Like Beckham ............................................................... 21 5.2.2 Family in Bhaji on the Beach .................................................................... 24 5.3 Leading a Double Life ...................................................................................... 27 5.3.1 Leading a Double Life in Bhaji on the Beach ........................................... 28 5.3.2 Leading a Double Life – Playing Football in Bend it Like Beckham ........ 30 5.4 Images of Racism .............................................................................................. 34 5.4.1 Images of Racism in Bhaji on the Beach .................................................. 34 5.4.2 Images of Racism in Bend it Like Beckham .............................................. 37 6 Comparisons and Conclusions ............................................................................... 39 6.1 Food .................................................................................................................. 39 6.2 Family ............................................................................................................... 40 6.3 Double Life ....................................................................................................... 41 6.4 Racism ............................................................................................................... 42 7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 43 8 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 44 3 1 Introduction Over the past few decades several films have attempted to portray the life of second generation Asian immigrants in Great Britain, specifically concentrating on the experience of Indians. Some of them have achieved great recognition by critics as well as the general public, others have not. The directors and screenwriters come from the first or second generation of immigrants and their aim seems to be communicating their own experience of either arriving to a foreign country or coming to terms with their double identity as both British and Indian. Other issues dealt with in their films include exploring British culture and subsequently getting accustomed to it. They present their viewers with their perception of a variety of contemporary issues, such as ethnic and cultural identity and racism. The thesis deals with two films by a first generation Indian filmmaker Gurinder Chadha, whose films about the British Asian experience are thought to be quite original. Chadha’s first major motion picture Bhaji on the Beach came out in 1993 and was followed by her best-known and most popular work Bend it Like Beckham (2002). The objective of this thesis is to explore and analyze some of the most frequent and therefore important themes occurring in the two films. The thesis deals with many topics divided up into four major areas: food, family, leading double lives and racism. The main questions the thesis addresses are: the importance attributed to each of the four themes in both films and the way Chadha deals with the problems her characters encounter during their lives. 4 The first part is a general overview of the history of Indian immigration to Britain and a list of stereotypes concerning Indians. The rest of the thesis deals specifically with Chadha and her films: the director and the films are presented to the reader and subsequently the four main themes are discussed and analyzed. The last part includes comparisons of the two films based on the different themes. 2 Historical Background 2.1 Indian Migration from the Beginning The first immigration-limiting piece of legislation was the 1596 “edict limiting the number of black people entering England” (Storry and Childs 259) issued by Queen Elizabeth I. The first Indians apparently arrived to Britain as servants of returning East India Company (EIC) workers during the 17 th and 18 th centuries. Many EIC employees quickly amassed wealth on a scale undreamed of in their native country and subsequently returned back home as rich men: “these nabobs retired to Britain with their wealth, their Indian artefacts, their Indian servants and, occasionally, their Indian wives” (Visram 4). It is generally accepted that the widespread import of Indian servants and ayahs to Britain began in the 18 th century, but there is some evidence of early arrivals during the 17th century. In any case, by the end of the 18 th century having Indian servants in the household was a common sign of wealth even outside the newly rich of the nabob world. Visram notes that “some Indian servants were sent back when no longer required, but an 5 unknown number remained as personal servants” (Visram 9). Most Indian servants (and their nabob masters) were then to be found in Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Bath and – of course – London. From the mid 19 th century to the onset of WWI only “several hundred Asians lived in Britain, […] the majority [coming] directly from the Indian sub-continent” (Visram 44). However, more and more Asians kept arriving: some seeking employment, others in search of university education and others still coming as exiled noblemen. Together they started to form the basis for a diverse and “growing multi-racial society” (Visram 44). Some Indians were employed by the royal family – Queen Victoria even learned to speak Hindustani. However, in spite of limited integration, India remained only one of the colonies answering to the mighty British Empire and – sadly – was treated as such. 2.2 Indian Migration in the 20 th Century During the first half of the 20 th century Britain maintained an ‘open-door policy.’ Following the end of WWII, a huge influx of people from all over the Commonwealth including India and Pakistan took the British Isles by surprise. The British began to see immigration as a controversial issue: on one hand, the cheap labour the immigrants represented was not to be disposed of lightly, on the other hand, the rise of non-White ethnic groups was perceived as a potential threat; as Marwick puts it, “the British, at the best of times, are a xenophobic people” (164). The rise in immigration sparked a quick reaction: in 1954 “the central government deprived the Indian provincial authorities of their right to issue passports. It then 6 introduced stringent educational and financial requirements for successful passport applications” (Hiro 113). “With such strict controls at source Indian and Pakistani migration was kept to an absolute minimum until the 1960s” (Hiro 114). The figures are indeed extremely low: in 1955 there were 7,350 Indian and Pakistani immigrants in the UK, five years later the number had only grown to 8,400. However, in 1961 their numbers soared to 48,850, largely due to the fact that in the previous year the Supreme Court of India ruled it unconstitutional to deny its citizens the fundamental right to travel. The British government reacted in 1962 by instituting the Commonwealth Immigrant Act, the first legislative act limiting the number of immigrants arriving to the UK due to a major increase in Indian immigrants. As a consequence of the act, more immigrants
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