Bend It Like Beckham

Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 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 by Redbus Film Distribution. The film was produced, written and directed by Gurinder Chadha. Its title refers to the football player David Beckham, and his skill at scoring from free kicks by curling 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. Bend It Like Beckham was released theatrically on April 12, 2002 by Redbus Film Distribution, and on DVD, Blu-ray and VHS on November 18, 2002 by Warner Home Video. The film surprised critics and was met with mostly positive reviews and it earned $76,583,333 on a $6 million budget. A stage musical version of the film opened at London's Phoenix Theatre on 24 June 2015.