“Bend It Like Beckham” director Gurinder Chadha has announced her newest project. The Hindustan Times reports that Chadha is developing “Song for a Spy,” about a female Indian World War II spy. Penned by Farrukh Dhondy (“Exitz”), the film is “a plot of espionage” that “unfold[s] in France and Germany, in the heat of World War II.”
According to Chadha, the history of WWII might be well known but “Song for a Spy” “will be narrated from a very different angle,” sharing an untold story. The Oscar-nominated movie “Hidden Figures,” about a group of black women who galvanized the space race, similarly delved into an ignored historical perspective.
Chadha revealed the news while doing press for her upcoming “Viceroy’s House,” co-written by Moira Buffini (“Harlots,” 2011’s “Jane Eyre”), at the Berlin International Film Festival. “Viceroy’s House” is set during the 1947 Partition — when India’s independence led to the bloody division of its territory.
The movie’s official synopsis reads, “In 1947, Lord Mountbatten (Hugh Bonneville, ‘Downton Abbey’) assumes the post of last Viceroy, charged with handing India back to its people, living upstairs at the house which was the home of British rulers, whilst 500 Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh servants lived downstairs.”
“Viceroy’s House” will simultaneously be released in English and dubbed Hindi in India, Hindustan Times details, with a possible release in Pakistan too.
So far “Viceroy’s House” has netted positive reviews and excitement over Chadha’s return to directing after seven years. But the film is still seeking additional distribution and does not yet have a U.S. release date. Screening at Berlinale will hopefully rectify this but we are at a loss for why a seasoned director like Chadha is having this trouble. She has been writing, producing, and directing regularly since 1990.
As Hindustan Times points out, Chadha’s work tends to explore “the lives of Indian women in the U.K. and their dilemma over trying to balance tradition with modernity.” Would Chadha have an easier time getting her work out there if she was an Indian man telling Indian men’s stories? Possibly. Would she have an easier time if she was a white man telling white men’s stories? All signs point to yes.
Chadha is probably best known in the U.S. for her 2002 film “Bend It Like Beckham,” about a young Indian woman whose love of soccer clashes with her traditional upbringing. The filmmaker’s other directorial credits include “Bride & Prejudice,” the short film “Quais de Seine,” “Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging,” and “It’s a Wonderful Afterlife.”
“Viceroy’s House” will open in U.K. theaters March 3.
