UK based director Gurindar Chaddha has made a sincere, ‘straight-from-the-heart’ movie called ‘Bend It Like Beckham’.
‘Bend It Like Beckham’ is all about dreams. Rather, it is about a girl who has dreams that are ‘different’ from the kind of dreams she is supposed to have.
Storyline
Jess- Jaspindar Bhamra(Parmindar Nagra) is a Punjabi girl based in UK. She is crazy about football and England’s handsome captain David Beckham(Yup, he is the one with the Devnaagri tattoo) is her idol. But her conservative mother wants her to learn cooking and not football.
One fine day a football player girl Jules notices Jess’ talent and feels that Jess can be an asset to any football team. Soon, Jess joins Jules and other team-members, and keeps it a secret from her family. Her coach is a handsome Irish guy- Joe.
At some point, many problems simultaneously arise in her life. Her parents find out about her football practice and they force her to discontinue it, her sister’s wedding gets cancelled. She falls in love with Joe and he loves her too, but her family is against it.Jules, who has one-sided feelings for Joe gets frustrated and misbehaves with Jess.
Will Jess' dream of a career in football come true? Will her family accept it? What is the future of Jess and Joe’s lovestory? Will Jess and Jules be friends again?
Watch the movie for the answers! The story is presented in a sincere yet dramatic way, and hence it keeps viewers interested till the end.
Let’s discuss some finer aspects of the movie-
1)Film’s technical department is very strong. The long shots of the large spacious football stadiums subtly give the, ‘Dream Big’ message. Cinematography, sound, production value- everything is perfect.
2)The music- this is not a Hindi movie. So, we don’t see Jess and Joe running round the trees. But Hindi tracks like ‘Aaja re O mere dilbar’, and ‘Tere bina nahi lagta dil mera’are creatively used in the background. Overall, music enhances the movie’s quality.
3)Acting- Parmindar Nagra as Jess has done a fantastic job. Her acting is so natural; she makes the movie very believable. This wasn’t a glamorous role, but pretty Parmindar looks effortlessly gorgeous-especially in the party scene and in the last scene at the airport.
Anupam Kher plays the father’s role very well. Jonathan Rhys- Myers is excellent as Joe.Supporting cast is equally good. David Beckham has made an appearance as himself.
4)There are some funny situations- like the scene of Jess’ sister’s engagement, and Jess’ interrogations by her family.
The India Factor-
This is a proper, well-made, technically superior movie- very different from the essentially superficial attempts by ABCDs.
Jess wants to be a football player- a career that is not considered ‘normal’ for girls. So, her mom is against it. Jules faces similar problem. Her mom is equally against the idea .So, it’s not about being an Indian, it’s not even about being a girl- its about challenging the norms- very universal theme.(If a guy wants to pursue a profession like fashion designing or baby-sitting, he will go through the same process of breaking the norms.)
Though this movie has got nothing much to do with India, it is essentially about Indian culture. There are subtle references to that. Jess is very much Indian- following the Indian tradition of putting parents’ wishes above everything else. She won’t pursue a career or a relationship if it’s going to upset her parents.
Then there is a scene of a match when a player calls Jess a ‘paki’ and Jess loses her temper. When Joe tries to pacify her, she says, “You will never understand what it’s like being called a ‘paki’.” And Joe snaps back- “I do understand. I am Irish!!!”
His Irishness is also highlighted often in the movie. (History says- Indian and Irish people have been very good friends-Britain being their common enemy).
This movie is much better than some pathetic Hindi movies where the leading lady has to give up playing basketball in order to get anywhere in life.
Of course, ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ has some flaws as well, like-
1)In the end, all the problems in Jess’ life get solved a bit too easily. Suddenly, all the good things start to happen, and perfect solutions come up. That was rather unrealistic, but probably necessary for a happy ending.
2)Again, the speech by Anupam in the end, and the whole talk about dreams and achieving was like an excerpt from a self-help book.
3)The wedding was a bit too loud.
4)The funny situations created due to the cultural clashes are used to create humor. That type of humor is a bit too much and cheap according to Indian standards.
Yet, the movie is worth a watch or two in spite of the flaws.
Conclusion- This movie is technically superb, and it has some touching, heart-warming and witty moments. In short, this movie entertains you, cheers you up, and creates a ‘feel-good’ mood.
