The director of Bend it Like Beckham has teased the prospect of a sequel to the hit film, over 20 years after its release. The original, starring Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra, was released back in 2002.
The plot follows Jesminder Bhamra (Nagra), who wants to pursue a career in professional football, but her Sikh parents want her to study for a law degree and to get married instead. She then meets Jules (Knightley) who invites jess to join the local women’s team. Yesterday, on the evening before the final of the 2025 Euros where the Lionesses will play against Spain in Basel on Sunday, director Chadha spoke about the plans for a follow-up film, with the year 2027 in mind for release.
While nothing is set in stone yet, the filmmaker hopes that the original cast will return to their roles. She also discussed what format it would take and whether it would be a sequel, series or something else. The director told the BBC that she’s usually been asked “twice a week” since the original film was released to come up with a sequel.
She said: “A lot has changed since the original movie, but I think that people still don’t think that women should play football.
“There are people who still don’t take it seriously, although the Lionesses are riding high.
“I’ve left it a while, but I thought, look at the Euros, look at the Lionesses.”
The director had hopes to reunite the original cast, as well members of the current England squad “queuing up” to take on cameo roles. She also told the BBC that she didn’t expect the original story to be so “successful”.
She said she wanted to “uplift girls, girls who grew up like me, who were always being told how to dress, how to look, what to say, what not to say.
“What I did was say you can do what you want, and you can have it all, and I think that’s a really great message to put out again. I think there’s still stuff to say, and stuff to challenge.”
When asked why it took so long to get an idea in place, director Chadha stated she “didn’t want to touch” the idea because she “didn’t have a story” yet.
She added: “And then I came up with a great story, really super-cool story. So now I’m inspired. Literally came up with it just about a month ago.
“Women’s football is more competitive, more exciting, and more global than ever. It is an honour for me to be a small part of it”.