Kunal Nayyar to Direct Gurinder Chadha Music for ‘Karma Christmas’

Gurinder Chadha (Bend it like Beckham) moves forward and Christmas Karmaa contemporary Bollywood music group in London and inspired by a Charles Dickens song A Christmas Carol, with Kunal Nayyar (The big bang theory) signed on to lead the cast.

Nayyar will star as Scrooge in the film alongside a stellar cast, including Eva Longoria, Boy George, Billy Porter, Hugh Bonneville, Leo Suter, Charithra Chandran, Pixie Lott, Danny Dyer, Bilal Hasna, Allan Corduner, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Rufus Jones, Eve, and Nitin Ganatra.

Chadha wrote the picture and is producing and directing, with music by Take That alum Gary Barlow alongside Shaznay Lewis and Nitin Sawhney. Funding for Christmas Karma is from Civic Studios. Gurinder Chadha, Celine Rattray, Trudie Styler, and Amory Leader will present. Zygi Kamasa, Anushka Shah, Paul Mayeda Berges, Sophia Pedlow, and Hannah Leader will serve as executive producers.

Christmas Karma is the fifth scripted project from British distributor True Brit Entertainment, which was set up in November 2023. The feature will also see Chadha return to the big screen following his stint on the Indian historical television series. Beecham House. His last film, Blinded by the Light, based on the Bruce Springsteen musical, which premiered at Sundance in 2019. Warner Bros. acquired the picture for multiple locations.

“Like I enjoyed Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life for many years, my goal and Christmas Karma is to create a festive style for our times and for future generations,” Chadha said. “I’ve been working with Zygi Kamasa who has supported me on this film since the beginning – and True Brit, which celebrates British cinema. Blessed with a great team of Actors and unique Music – the song will be a hit, influenced by Gospel, Bhangra, Carols and pop classics. You will not be able to sit still.”

Kamasa added: “Gurinder has an uncanny ability to tell beautiful contemporary British stories. It’s been over 20 years since we Bend it like Beckham plus this movie has all the hallmarks of heart, comedy, drama, and a feel-good ending. It will be a multi-cultural London celebration set to an incredible set of songs written by Gary, Shaznay, and Nitin, using genres from Rap, disco to Bhangra, and it will be a major Christmas film that we will be releasing in December. 2025. It fits perfectly with the range of British films we will be releasing at True Brit.”