Sarfraz Manzoor will talk about ‘Blinded by the Light’ film at free Monmouth U. event

JAMES J. CONNOLLY

From left, Sarfraz Manzoor with Bruce Springsteen and Gurinder Chadha at the premiere of “Blinded by the Light” at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, Aug. 7.

Sarfraz Manzoor, the Pakistani-British journalist upon whose memoir the movie “Blinded by the Light” was based, will talk about his life and work at the Pollak Theater at Monmouth University in West Long Branch at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8. The event will be free.

Manzoor adapted his own 2007 memoir “Greetings From Bury Park” for the screenplay of the movie, which was directed by and co-written with Gurinder Chadha, and released in the United States on Aug. 16.

The film is basically about the role Bruce Springsteen’s music played in Manzoor’s life, and its soundtrack is full of Springsteen songs, including the previously unreleased “I’ll Stand by You.”

Manzoor said in a recent article he wrote for the British newspaper The Guardian that the film “is about a teenage British Pakistani boy whose life feels constrained by his class, culture and community until he discovers the liberating power of the music of Bruce Springsteen … I was apprehensive about whether a mainstream audience (white and non-Muslim) would be able to relate to the protagonist, yet it has been illuminating how much they have seen beyond religion and ethnicity and responded to the characters as sons, mothers and fathers — as human beings.”

Springsteen attended and performed at a premiere event for the film at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, Aug. 7.

The Oct. 8 event will be hosted by The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, which is housed at Monmouth University.

For information, visit monmouth.edu/arts.