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BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM

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 has achieved a cult-like status. It 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 football; 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). 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.

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 first-generation Punjabi immigrant parents push her hard to study to get into university and become a solicitor, and wish to arrange a marriage for her in due course. Jess instead dreams of football, 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.

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