Bend It Like Beckham
Directed by	Gurinder Chadha
Produced by	Gurinder Chadha Deepak Nayar
Written by	Gurinder Chadha Guljit Bindra Paul Mayeda Berges
Starring	Parminder Nagra Keira Knightley Jonathan Rhys-Meyers Anupam Kher Shaznay Lewis Archie Panjabi
Music by	Craig Pruess
Cinematography	Josh Lin
Editing by	Justin Krish
Distributed by	Helkon SK, Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release date(s)	April 11, 2002 March 12, 2003
Running time	112 min.
Country	UK, Germany, USA
Language	English, Punjabi, German, Hindi
Budget	£3,507,182 (estimated)
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Bend It Like Beckham is a British film released in 2002 in the UK and released in the United States in March 2003. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha and was based on the screenplay she wrote with Paul Berges and Guljit Bindra. The film was a box office success and tells the tale of two young London women from different backgrounds who share an aptitude for football (soccer) and pressure from their families to conform. One is a British Indian Sikh girl who struggles against her family's orthodox mindset to fulfill her dream of playing professional Women's football (soccer); the other is a white girl who has to combat her mother's stereotypes about athletic prowess and lesbianism. The film's title is a reference to the English footballer David Beckham and his skill at scoring from free-kicks by "bending" (curving) the ball (making it swerve as it flies through the air). Download high resolution version (400x601, 47 KB)Bend It Like Beckham movie poster. ... Image:Gurinder Chadha. ... Image:Gurinder Chadha. ... Image:Gurinder Chadha. ... Paul Mayeda Berges is a film writer and director who grew up in Torrance, California. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Keira Christina Knightley (pronounced IPA: ;[1] born 26 March 1985) is an English[2] film and television actress. ... Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (born Jonathan Michael Francis OKeeffe on 27 July 1977) is an Irish actor and Golden Globe winner. ... Anupam Kher (Hindi: अनुपम खेर), born March 7, 1955, is an actor in Hindi films in India. ... Shaznay Tricia Lewis (born October 14, 1975 in Islington, London) is an English female singer/songwriter and a member of All Saints. ... Archie Panjabi, birth name Archana Kaur Panjabi, born 1973 in West London, England is a British actress of Panjabi descent. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Fox Searchlight Pictures logo. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This is a list of film-related events in 2002. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... “Punjabi” redirects here. ... Hindi ( , Devanagari: or , IAST: , IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken all over India in varying degrees and extensively in northern and central India, is one of the 22 official languages of India and is also used for central government administrative purposes , along with English. ... This article is about motion pictures. ... This is a list of film-related events in 2002. ... Image:Gurinder Chadha. ... The term box office can refer to either: A place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to a venue The amount of business a particular production, such as a movie or theatre show, does. ... The term British Asian is used to denote a person of Southern Asian ancestry or origin, or sometimes Western Asian origin, who was born in or was an immigrant to the United Kingdom. ... Religions Sikhism Scriptures Guru Granth Sahib Languages English, Punjabi] A Sikh (English: or ; Punjabi: , , IPA: ) is an adherent to Sikhism. ... UEFA Womens Cup Final 2005 at Potsdam Womens association football is the most prominent team sport for women in many countries, and one of the few womens team sports with professional leagues. ... This article is about same-sex desire and sexuality among women. ... David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham OBE (born May 2, 1975) is an English footballer born in Leytonstone, London. ... A direct free kick A direct free kick is a method of restarting play in a game of association football (soccer) following a foul. ...

The movie was filmed in West London, specifically Hounslow (where the main characters live) and Southall, and central London, including Soho for the football store and pub, and Piccadilly Circus. Scenes were also shot in Hamburg, Germany. Satellite image of the inner part of West London Ayad Dibis is the best in West London. ... , Hounslow is the principal town of the London Borough of Hounslow in West London. ... It has been suggested that Southalls South Asian community be merged into this article or section. ... Central London is a much-used but unofficial and vaguely defined term for the most inner part of London, the capital of England. ... Cast-iron architecture in Greene Street SoHo is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the city in Germany. ...

Plot

The film is a coming-of-age tale about 18-year-old Jesminder "Jess" Bhamra (Parminder Nagra), a Sikh girl living in the western suburbs of London, not far from Heathrow Airport. Her father is an Indian immigrant from Uganda. Both of her parents are first-generation Punjabi immigrants in Britain. Because Jess is the more studious daughter, they push her towards academic achievement in the hope that she will achieve the financial success that they could not. Their goal is for her to attend university and become a solicitor. As was the custom, they also planned to arrange a marriage for her in due course. Jess, on the other hand, dreams of becoming a professional football player, inspired by one of England's most famous players, David Beckham. She displays unusual talent for the game in park matches with the local boys, running them ragged with her evasive skills. She confides her dreams to a poster of Beckham which hangs in her room. These "conversations" are contrasted in the film with her parent's show of veneration to a poster of The Sikh holy man (babaji) Guru Nanak Dev Ji. For other uses, see Coming of Age (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Religions Sikhism Scriptures Guru Granth Sahib Languages English, Punjabi] A Sikh (English: or ; Punjabi: , , IPA: ) is an adherent to Sikhism. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... London Heathrow Airport (IATA airport code: LHR, ICAO airport code: EGLL, and often simply Heathrow) is the United Kingdoms busiest and best-connected airport. ... Though Indians pervade every facet of East African commercial life, their presence in this region remains far less known compared to East Africas white settlers who imported the Indians as coolie laborers in the late 1800s to build the Uganda-Kenya Railway. ... Punjabi (also Panjabi; in Gurmukhī, Panjābī in Shāhmukhī) is the language of the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan. ... A solicitor is a type of lawyer in many common law jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, but not the United States (in the United States the word has a quite different meaning—see below). ... Marriage à-la-mode by William Hogarth: a satire on arranged marriages and prediction of ensuing disaster An arranged marriage is a marriage that is established before involving oneself in a lengthy courtship, and often involves the arrangement of someone other than the persons getting married. ... A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ... David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham OBE (born May 2, 1975) is an English footballer born in Leytonstone, London. ... Religions Sikhism Scriptures Guru Granth Sahib Languages English, Punjabi] A Sikh (English: or ; Punjabi: , , IPA: ) is an adherent to Sikhism. ... Babaji may refer to: a Saivite Hindu guru A song by Supertramp about the former Mahavatar Babaji, referred to by Paramahansa Yogananda in his best-selling Autobiography of a Yogi. ... Guru Nanak Dev[1] (Punjabi: , ) (Born in Nankana Sahib, Punjab, (now Pakistan) on 20th October 1469 – 7 May 1539, Kartarpur, Punjab, India), was the founder of Sikhism, and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. ...

While playing in the park Jess is spotted by Juliette "Jules" Paxton (Keira Knightley), the star player at the Hounslow Harriers, a local amateur women's football club. She happily accepts Jules's invitation to join the club, even though she knows her parents would disapprove. Jess becomes a key member of the side and Jules's best friend. She also develops a special bond with the team's coach, Joe (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), a young man whose dreams of football stardom were shattered when he injured his knee. Meanwhile, there are rumours that a scout from an American college is looking for players for the school's women's team. The resulting situation sets up a number of culture clashes ranging from the comical to the serious, as Jess, her friends (both from the Indian community and the football club), and family, try to negotiate their way between the expectations of two cultures and their own dreams and desires. Keira Christina Knightley (pronounced IPA: ;[1] born 26 March 1985) is an English[2] film and television actress. ... , Hounslow is the principal town of the London Borough of Hounslow in West London. ... Harrier can mean: Harrier vertical take-off and landing fighter/attack aircraft and derivatives: Hawker-Siddeley Harrier - 1st generation Harrier BAE Sea Harrier - Maritime strike/air defence fighter AV-8 Harrier II - 2nd generation Harrier BAE Harrier II - 2nd generation Harrier used by the UK Harrier (dog) Harrier (bird), several... Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (born Jonathan Michael Francis OKeeffe on 27 July 1977) is an Irish actor and Golden Globe winner. ...

The movie also shows that immigrant families are not unique in their adherence to tradition. Jules's mother (Juliet Stevenson), who has very conventional views of femininity, pressures her daughter to wear frilly lingerie rather than sports bras and fears that her tomboy daughter is in a lesbian relationship with Jess. Instead of the standard plot device of the unyielding father and the understanding mother, the roles are reversed with the father having the wisdom to let his daughter fulfill her dreams and the mother clinging to her ideas and traditions. In Jess's case, her father (Anupam Kher) decides to let her play in the football tournament even when it means leaving her sister's wedding early. In Jules's case, her father encourages her to play football instead of chasing boys and doing normal "girl things". Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson (born October 30, 1956) is an English actress. ... Assorted lingerie styles. ... Sports bra is a bra that provides firm support for the breasts. ... For other uses, see Tomboy (disambiguation). ... This article is about same-sex desire and sexuality among women. ... Anupam Kher (Hindi: अनुपम खेर), born March 7, 1955, is an actor in Hindi films in India. ...

When he realises she has sneaked out to play football, Jess's father takes ten minutes to watch Jess in her game and sees just how good she really is. He is surprised to find her a fantastic player and a key member of the team, but he is not as impressed when he finds her hugging her coach. During the wedding party, Jess's father allows her to go to the final football match, saying it would be the only way to see her happy on her sister's wedding day - her joy of playing is contrasted with her sister's joy of getting married, in a montage. For other uses of the word montage, see Montage. ...

The American scout sees Jess and Jules at the game and offers them a place at a college in the USA with a well known and successful women's soccer program (Santa Clara University). Jules accepts straight away, but Jess does not as she knows her parents would never let her. She returns to the wedding party (which was just finishing) and tells her best Indian friend - Tony (a gay man who is infatuated with David Beckham) what has happened. Tony sees how much Jess wants to take up this opportunity, so he tells Jess's parents that he and Jess want to get married but he wants her to have a chance to go to the college of her choice first (i.e. the college in America to which she has been offered admission). Jess realises that she cannot let Tony make such a sacrifice for her, and she also wishes to stop deceiving her family, so she speaks up and asks permission to go to America. The Santa Clara Mission is a notable on-campus landmark. ...

Her father grants her permission to go, as during his youth in England he wanted to play cricket but he was unable to because the English men who were at the club he wished to play at made fun of the turban he wore and 'kicked him out like a dog'. He realises that Jess really wants to take up this opportunity and gives a speech in front of the relatives and friends there about how he was discriminated against and how he wants Jess to take up the opportunity he never had. Consequently Jess goes to America. The film concludes with family and friends assembled at the airport to bid Jess and Jules farewell. Jess and Joe, who throughout the film found themselves attracted to the other despite the restrictions of family and his position, kiss and decide to tell Jess' parents of the relationship when she comes back at Christmas. The credits roll with Joe and Jess's father playing cricket. Bowler Shaun Pollock bowls to batsman Michael Hussey. ... This article is about headwear. ...

Cast

• Parminder Nagra - Jesminder 'Jess' Kaur Bhamra
• Keira Knightley - Juliette 'Jules' Paxton
• Jonathan Rhys Meyers - Joe and David Beckham
• Anupam Kher - Mr. Bhamra
• Archie Panjabi - Pinky Bhamra
• Shaznay Lewis - Mel
• Frank Harper - Alan Paxton
• Juliet Stevenson - Paula Paxton
• Shaheen Khan - Mrs. Bhamra
• Ameet Chana - Tony
• Pooja Shah - Meena (as Poojah Shah)
• Alif Silpachai - Saranyu
• Paven Virk - Bubbly
• Preeya Kalidas - Monica
• Trey Farley - Taz
• Saraj Chaudhry - Sonny (as Saraj Chaudry)

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Keira Christina Knightley (pronounced IPA: ;[1] born 26 March 1985) is an English[2] film and television actress. ... JRM redirects here. ... Anupam Kher (Hindi: अनुपम खेर), born March 7, 1955, is an actor in Hindi films in India. ... Archie Panjabi, birth name Archana Kaur Panjabi, born 1973 in West London, England is a British actress of Panjabi descent. ... Shaznay Tricia Lewis (born October 14, 1975 in Islington, London) is an English female singer/songwriter and a member of All Saints. ... Frank Harper is an British Actor . ... Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson (born October 30, 1956) is an English actress. ... Pooja Shah (born 8 August 1979 in London, England) is a British asian actor. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features lively music in the bhangra style, soul music including Tails from the west by the westwood asylum, songs by Victoria Beckham, Melanie C, Texas and the aria Nessun Dorma, from Puccini's Turandot. It also features excerpts from the dance band Basement Jaxx, Red Alert and Do Your Thing. Melanie C's song I Turn To You was used in the movie but is not included in the soundtrack. Bhangra (Punjabi: , , ) is a lively form of music and dance that originated in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. ... This article is about the novel Soul Music. ... Victoria Caroline Beckham (née Adams; born 17 April 1974) is an English singer, songwriter, dancer and occasional actress turned fashion designer and businesswoman. ... Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born 12 January 1974 in Whiston, Merseyside) is an English singer, songwriter and television personality most famous as one of the five members of English girl group the Spice Girls, where she is known as Sporty Spice. She is also known as Melanie C or Mel C... Texas are a pop music band from Glasgow, Scotland. ... Nessun dorma is an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccinis opera Turandot. ... Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (December 22, 1858 – November 29, 1924) was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire. ... For the opera by Ferruccio Busoni, see Turandot (Busoni). ... Basement Jaxx is a critically acclaimed UK house music duo, comprising Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe, that rose to popularity in the late 1990s. ... Red Alert may refer to: Command & Conquer: Red Alert, a computer game by Westwood Studios The highest level of threat in the Homeland Security Advisory System (USA) The highest level of threat in the BIKINI Alert States (UK) Red Alert (book), a 1958 novel by Peter George Red Alert, a... I Turn to You was the fourth single from Melanie Cs debut solo album, Northern Star. ...

Response

The film was popular with audiences around the world, including the United States. It received a score of 85% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes (121 fresh and 22 rotten). [1] Critic Steve Sailer, dubbed the movie My Big Fat Sikh Heading [2]. Roger Ebert argued that it is "just about perfect as a teenage coming-of-age comedy." [3] This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Steve Sailer Steven Ernest Sailer (born December 20, 1958) is an American journalist and movie critic for The American Conservative, ex-correspondent for UPI, and VDARE.com columnist. ... Roger Joseph Ebert (born June 18, 1942) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American film critic. ...

See also

• Gracie (film)
• Mississippi Masala
• List of women warriors in folklore, literature, and popular culture

Promotional movie poster for the film Gracie (2007) is an American film, set to be released in the United States on June 1, 2007. ... Mississippi Masala (1991) is a film directed by Mira Nair, based upon a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala. ... A list of women warriors in folklore, literature, and popular culture. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Bend It Like Beckham

• Official Website
• Alternative publicity poster
• Bend It Like Beckham at the Internet Movie Database
• Yahoo! Movies page

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