Books

Read the novel of the global smash hit noughties film – now on Netflix!

If you’re 18, love football and can bend a ball like Beckham, the world must be your oyster, right? Wrong. If you’re Jesminder – 18, Indian and a girl – forget it.

Jess just wants to play football but her wedding-obsessed parents have other ideas so she hides it from them. But when Jess and her friend Jules join a women’s team and get spotted by a talent scout, it all kicks off …

The Bend it Like Beckham movie was a box-office hit, starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Bend it Like Beckham was also transformed into a musical in London’s West End.

Director Gurinder Chadha recently announced that a sequel is in the works for the film’s 25th anniversary – bring on Bend it Like Beckham 2!