Who wants to cook Aloo Gobi when you can bend a ball like Beckham? Pretty fitting tag line for this wonderful independent movie, written and directed by Gurinder Chadha. This is a story of an indian girl living in England that has the chance to play soccer, and possibly take her talents to the next level with a scholarship to an American college, and possibly even playing professionally. Of course the family society she is being brought up in, she is pressured to learn to cook a full Indian dinner and settle down with a nice Indian boy. Jesminder’s mother says “Now do you want a clean-shaven boy like your sister, or a proper Sikh with full beard and turban?” The plot thickens and becomes very comical when Jesminder begins to sneak off to play soccer and starts showing interest in her coach, Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers/Wimbledon), of course this all falling during her sisters wedding.
A relative newcomer to the silver screen is Parminder Nagra who plays Jess. Very likable in her role you find yourself rooting for her in every situation she is in. A little side note, the story she recalls about how her legs got burned, was what actually happened. Great move by the director to work in a very nice character building scene with her embarrassment of showing her legs and dealing with it and moving on. Very nice touch.
The film also features Keira Knightley (Atonement) in one of her first major roles. Juliet Stevenson plays her mother and has some of the best dialog. Not really liking her daughter Jules playing soccer, thinks she needs to be more feminine. Referring to her daughters sporting ways…”All I’m saying is, there’s a reason why Sporty Spice is the only one without a fella!”
This is a wonderful family movie, and this gets better with each viewing. Has all the elements of a great film. This is one worth seeing for sure! Highly recommend it.
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