Christmas Karma director reveals how she sought Charles Dickens's "permission" for new Christmas Carol update

A Christmas Carol is already one of the most adapted books of all time, and as of this weekend, there's another new big-screen version of Charles Dickens's timeless Yuletide yarn for cinemagoers to enjoy.

That's because Bend It Like Beckham and Blinded by the Light director Gurinder Chadha has reimagined the iconic tale with her new film Christmas Karma, which unfolds in modern-day London and sees The Big Bang Theory star Kunal Nayyar play a British-Indian version of Ebenezer Scrooge named Mr Sood.

Although the film takes many liberties with the original text, Chadha's version is more or less true to the, ahem, spirit of the story – and speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com she revealed that she actually made a special trip while she was preparing to write the film.

"I went to Charles Dickens's house in Clerkenwell," she explained. "I walked around his house, the sitting room, the drawing room, the kitchen, where the pudding is made and all this. And I kind of sought permission from Charles Dickens, saying, 'If he was alive today and he was me, what would he do?'

"And then it all just clicked. With the story of Scrooge having a past where, sadly, he's come to Britain in 1972 as an Ugandan Asian and as a refugee."

Chadha added that Mr Sood was also based on the true story of a family friend who had gone through almost exactly the same journey, and "was always very Grinch-y at Christmas".

She said: "Growing up, I was like, 'Why are you so mean?' And he was like, 'Why are you doing Christmas? That's not our holiday.' And I'm like, 'It is our holiday!' And those feelings always stayed with me. And then he went through that trauma – happily, he's come out the other side now. But it's based on someone very real.

"Scrooge we know now was actually suffering from depression and he had to go back and heal his inner child, as we say. And so I think the movie works on that level now, because a lot of people are more open to looking at your past and trying to figure out how to move forward if you've had a traumatic childhood."

Of course, as well as casting Scrooge, one of the key aspects of any Christmas Carol adaptation – from the Muppets to Alastair Sim – is deciding who should play the three Spirits. Chadha opted for an especially eclectic mix of actors, with Christmas Past played by Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, Christmas Present by Pose's Billy Porter, and Christmas Yet to Come by none other than '80s pop icon Boy George.

So how did those castings come about?

"With Eva Longoria, she asked me to host her her film, Flamin' Hot, and I agreed," Chadha explained. "And then after we were having a meal, and she said, 'What are you working on? I'd love to work with you.' And I said, 'I'm doing this Christmas Carol adaptation.' And she said, 'I'm Mexican. We own ghosts. Day of the dead. That's me. I'm in this movie.' And I thought, 'My god!'

"I had never thought of that because I had gone down the Dame route, you know, the British Dame route, but actually, she was totally right!

"Billy, I'd come across in his show Pose, and I wanted someone who was very commanding, because his responsibility was to turn Sood around – but also to sing and dance. And Billy is such a force of nature on screen that he took that role. He grabbed it. And everything he says, he says it with such authenticity.

"And then, of course, Boy George, who I just contacted because I love Boy George –and frankly, who doesn't? I needed someone to play the Ghost of Future who had a bit of a past themselves and had been through a lot to come out the other side, so they would bring that to the song they get to sing. And George grabbed it!"

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Christmas Karma is now showing in UK cinemas.

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