Taglines: Don’t call Them Chicks!
A kaleidoscope of color and culture clash humorously as an Indian family in London tries to raise their soccer-playing daughter in a traditional way. Unlike elder sister, Pinky, who is preparing for an Indian wedding and a lifetime of cooking the perfect chapatti, Jess’ dream is to play soccer like her hero David Beckham.
Wholeheartedly against Jess’ unorthodox ambition, her parents eventually reveal that their reservations have more to do with protecting her than with holding her back. When Jess is forced to make a choice between tradition and her beloved sport, her family must decide whether to let her chase her dream…and a soccer ball.
Bend It Like Beckham is a British-American-Indian-German romantic sports and Indian-themed comedy-drama family film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis and Archie Panjabi. It was first released on April 12, 2002 in the United Kingdom.
The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha. Its title refers to the football (commonly called “soccer” in the United States) player David Beckham, and his skill at scoring from free kicks by “bending” the ball past a wall of defenders. The movie is about the 18-year-old daughter of Punjabi Sikhs in London. She is infatuated with football but her parents have forbidden her to play because she is a girl. She joins a local women’s team, which makes its way to the top of the league. A stage musical version of the film opened at London’s Phoenix Theatre in 2015.
Jesminder “Jess” Bhamra is the 18-year-old daughter of Punjabi Sikh Indians from Hounslow in west London. Jess is infatuated with football but her parents have forbidden her to play because she is a girl. She plays in the park sometimes with her good friend Tony, a closeted homosexual and his buddies, where her skills draw the attention of Juliette “Jules” Paxton, who plays for the women’s team of the local club, the fictional Hounslow Harriers.
Their coach, Joe, is impressed with her play and puts her on the team. Jess pretends to have a job to play with the team and Jules and Jess become best friends, despite the fact that both are attracted to Joe. Jess enlists her sister Pinky to cover for her when the team travels to Germany for a big match, but everything unravels when Jules spies Joe kissing Jess, causing a breach between them, and Jess’s parents find out and forbid her to continue. Meanwhile, Jules’s mother wrongly thinks Jules is a lesbian and the girls’ spat is a lovers’ quarrel. Jess’s parents are confronted by a similar accusation before Jess reveals the truth about her attraction to Joe.
While the elder Bhamras are distracted by the elaborate preparations for Pinky’s upcoming wedding, Jess continues to play and the Hounslow Harriers make their way towards the top of the league. Joe encourages Jess to come clean with her parents and eventually approaches Mr. Bhamra to explain she has a chance to win a prestigious scholarship, but Mr. Bhamra refuses to believe it. Jess and Jules must sort their differences, make peace with their parents, and overcome cultural prejudice to win the league championship, and earn scholarships to Santa Clara University in California.
Directed by: Gurinder Chadha
Starring: Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Archie Panjabi, Juliet Stevenson, Preeya Kalidas
Screenplay by: Gurinder Chadha, Guljit Bindra
Production Design by: Nick Ellis
Cinematography by: Lin Jong
Film Editing by: Justin Krish
Costume Design by: Ralph Wheeler-Holes
Set Decoration by: Sara Neighbour
Music by: Craig Pruess
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for language and sexual content.
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release Date: August 1, 2003
