“I’m sad to say that if you have people of colour as the lead in a movie, it automatically becomes less commercial as far as financiers are concerned,” says film director Gurinder Chadha.
The London-based director behind the 2002 hit Bend It Like Beckham says that as a result she struggles to attract funding for her new films.
Gurinder Chadha, who is British-Kenyan and of Indian origin, said she believed investors were “cautious” to back her work, which she said often explored the experiences of Asian communities and starred Asian actors.
Her new film Christmas Karma, inspired by Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, features Big Bang Theory star Kunal Nayyar – who is a London-born Indian actor – as Scrooge.
Chadha, who grew up in Southall, west London, also warned that the industry would “never move the dial” if investors did not back a more diverse range of films.
“People talk about diversity…but in practice, I don’t think it’s where I would have liked to have seen it by this time,” she told BBC Radio London.
Bend It Like Beckham, the tale of a teenage girl from west London torn between playing football and her traditional Sikh family life – grossed £60m on a production budget of £3.5m.
But despite its success, she said investors still lacked confidence to back her.
“It’s all about money,” she told BBC presenter Asad Ahmad.
“I actually think people want to see a complete mix of films… I just think that financiers are very cautious.
“It’s something I don’t understand, to be very honest with you and I wish it wasn’t the case,” she added.
The British Film Institute (BFI) said representation in the UK screen sectors has “long been unequal” but that its funding targets for film projects is making “improvements in those stats”.
The BFI added: “To help address this historic imbalance and the long-standing barriers for Black and Global Majority people, equity, diversity and inclusion is one of the three core principles which underpins our National Lottery funding strategy.”
It said that of the 18 films the BFI funds per year, 44% of directors awarded production funding for features in 2023/24 identifying as Black and Global Majority – against a target of 40% for London and 30% outside of London.
The figures for writers (33%) and producers (9%) “fall short of the target”, it added.
Following Bend it Like Beckham, starring Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightly, Chadha enjoyed success with films including Viceroy’s House (2017) and Blinded By The Light (2019).
She hopes people will “feel differently” after her film Christmas Karma is released next year.
The present-day adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol stars Hugh Bonneville and Eva Longoria, as well as Nayyar.
“It’s concerned with all the things I’m concerned with; identity, Britishness, who we are as a nation, where we’re going as a nation, all the things Bend it Like Beckham was about.
“It’s my ‘Bend it Like Santa’ film,” she said.