Bend It Like Beckham director finally teases sequel idea

"I'm starting to percolate an idea for a possible sequel of some kind."

Bend It Like Beckham: Five reasons the film is still iconic 20 years on

Grossing almost £60m on a budget of £3.5m, it was the surprise hit that told the story of a young British-Indian girl with a passion for football. Bend It Like Beckham explored themes of identity, race, gender, sexuality, religion and immigration and, for many, was a cultural moment that remains timeless.

Blinded by the Light review

Racism, Thatcher and Luton. Gurinder Chadha's Springsteen-inspired comedy drama has moments of greatness but today's charged politics add a bitter taste.

Gurinder Chadha's comedy about a British Asian girl who defies her parents' traditional values to play football for a local team is as predictable as England's early World Cup demise - but sweet and funny, too. Parminder Nagra makes an ace heroine, running rings around her co-star, Keira Knightley.

Five Minutes With: Gurinder Chadha

Gurinder Chadha is known for directing films including Bend It Like Beckham, Bride And Prejudice, Bhaji On The Beach and most recently It's A Wonderful Afterlife.

She talks to Matthew Stadlen about women directors, how she thinks of herself as a trailblazer, why weddings feature in her films and why the smell of cabbage is comforting.

Gurinder Chadha: I've had it with jokey and commercial

Britain's most successful female director is sick of fluffy comedies. So why has she made another one?

Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha turns her hand to a coming-of-age movie adapted from the novels by Louise Rennison. Revealing the same wit and insight that Chadha brought to Bend It, the story centres on plain 14-year-old Georgia (Georgia Groome), who makes it her mission to snog one of two "fit" twins newly arrived at her school. In the background her parents' marriage is not going well, but Georgia is nothing if not sharp and with a tight-knit group of friends fast learns to cope with the hassles and misfortunes of teenage life.