18. Bend it Like Beckham (2002)
Probably the finest work of Gurinder Chadha, not so much Keira Knightley’s. The movie is about Jesminder, the daughter (Parminder Nagra ) of a traditional Sikh family from India now settled in England. Unlike her sister, she spends most of her time playing football in the park with her male friends during one such match she is picked up by Jules played by Keira Knightley who insists her to join the women’s league.
The story explores the world of women’s football and at the same time portraying the struggles of an 18-year-old trying to make it big in the world of football instead of making aloo gobi back home and getting married to a nice Indian boy.
A fun story capturing the very essence of friendship, love and determination to fulfil one’s dream. Bend it like Beckham became one of the world’s most popular films in the early 2000’s and it was one of the few films based on football that garnered commercial success at the box office.