Bend It Like Beckham

Story

Jesminder, ‘Jess’, a Punjabi Sikh living in Southall, wants to play football but her family have banned it because she is a girl. When Jules, the rising star of the local women’s football team, sees her playing football in the park she encourages her to try out for the team.

Why we chose it

A story about girls’ football made in the days before everyone got excited about women’s football. A story about growing up and trying to reconcile what you want with what’s expected of you.

Where it came from

Chadra had been working in America but wanted to come home and make a British film. She set her story in Southall where she grew up. In making it she wanted to give girls positive images and to explore what might happen when two different worlds – football and being an Asian teenager – are brought together.

Where it went next

Bend It Like Beckham was well received by critics and audience and became a surprise box office hit. Gurinder Chadra worked with composer and lyricist Howard Goodall and Charles Hart to turn the film into a stage musical which opened in West End 2015.

Associated stories

Chadra’s debut documentary I’m British but… shown on Channel 4 in 1989 was the first film made from point of view of second generation Asian filmmaker. Her first feature film Bhaji on the Beach released in 1993 was co-written by Meera Syall and the first feature film made by British Asian woman. In 2004 she directed Bride and Prejudice, a Bollywood style adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and in 2008 co-wrote and directed teen romantic comedy Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging, based on Louise Rennison’s best selling novels. In 2019 she directed Blinded by the Light, a comedy drama based on a memoir written by Sarfraz Manzoor who co-wrote the film. It tells the story of a British-Pakistani Muslim teenager who discovers the music of Bruce Springsteen.