'Bend It Like Beckham'
With Gurinder Chadha
Co-Writer, Director
And Carrie Moore
Defender, Washington Freedom
Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2003; 4 p.m. ET

In the new film "Bend It Like Beckham," color and culture clash as an Indian family in London tries to raise their soccer-playing daughter in a traditional way. Jess’s (Parminder Nagra) dream is to play soccer professionally like her hero David Beckham. Wholeheartedly against Jess’s unorthodox ambition, her parents eventually reveal that their reservations have more to do with protecting her than with holding her back. When Jess is forced to make a choice between tradition and her beloved sport, her family must decide whether to let her chase her dream -- and a soccer ball.

Co-writer and Director Gurinder Chadha and Washington Freedom defender Carrie Moore were online Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. ET, to field questions and comments about the film.

The transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Arizona: Greetings! I saw the movie this past weekend and I absolutely LOVED it! Is it based on a true story? Also, what is your next project?

Gurinder Chadha and Carrie Moore: Gurinder: The film is based where I grew up and I'm not a soccer player, but my co-writer is mad about Majesty United and not Beckham, but Ryan Gibbs. I chose Beckham for his skills as a player and I love the idea of bending the ball -- when we can't go straight to the goal, so the metaphor worked really well.

The film is about wanting to do what's not expected of you as a girl, and as an Indian girl. In England, soccer is a man's world.

My new project, I'm taking Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice and turning it into a Bollywood musical. It's set in India and the United States. We start shooting in July.

washingtonpost.com: Carrie, what did you think of the movie? Was women's soccer accurately depicted?

Gurinder Chadha and Carrie Moore: Carrie: I thought the movie was great. I thought the level of soccer they showed was better than what's been portrayed in other movies. The focus of the movie wasn't on the play of the soccer, but you can't really compare it with a real game. But I really enjoyed the movie. Mia and Monica Gerardo were both in it.

Gurinder: A little pressure on Carrie with me on the line. There's a series in Britain called "Playing the Field" about soccer, and it's shot really badly. One of the reasons I couldn't get the film made in Britain was because there's an idea that films about soccer don't work. So that was a real problem.

I had seen a great sports movie and that was "Any Given Sunday." I liked the way the sports sequences were shot -- they were about the wider story. When you make a film about sports, what you can't do is shoot the sport as it is normally enjoyed. People dont' come to the cinema to watch a soccer game. They come to see characters and lives and drama. I think that's where a lot of sports films go wrong. It should be the metaphor. In "Any Given Sunday" it was about teamwork. In my film, it's about wanting to make it in a man's world in Britain and an opportunity to put images of women -- some tall, some short, some pudgy -- and have them on the screen looking really strong and powerful.

Reston, Va.: Sounds like a great movie. Being an Indian myself, having lived in England for several years and having a 9 year old soccer-crazy daughter, this movie will be most fascinating. Can't wait to see it. I must confess to not having seen your other movies. The titles sound interesting. Are they available on DVD/Video?

Thanks

Gurinder Chadha and Carrie Moore: Gurinder: They are, but you have to look hard. You can get them on Amazon. "What's Cooking" is going to be released on DVD shortly by Lion's Gate.

Alexandria, Va.: Did you face similar struggles as the star growing up -- wanting to play soccer but facing resistance from your family or others?

Gurinder Chadha and Carrie Moore: Carrie: No, I was really fortunate in my path. My family was super supportive and my family comes to every game I play. Even in my community, there was always soccer available. I didn't have any struggles.

Gurinder: When the film was released in Hong Kong, I said to a journalist that the women's team beat China in 1999 and he said, "What, Chinese women playing?"

Harrisburg, Pa.: The plot of this movie appears to be very creative and interesting. There are several avenues of intriquing conflicts with interesting twists. It has potential appeal to many kinds of audiences. How was the idea for this script and movie developed?

Gurinder Chadha and Carrie Moore: gurinder: I wanted to do something autobiographical about growing up in that part of West London and being English and Indian at the same time. The story lines though become very universal. So it's done well in Britain and South Africa, India, Europe and has done something like $50 Million here -- which I never expected. So it has put girls' game on the map. I wanted to show what it was like to be privileged to be part of two cultures and how you balance the two.

Gaithersburg, Md.: Ms. Chadha,

My wife is an Indian immigrant and I'm a third-generation American of northern European ancestry. Among the Indian immigrants we know, there's an increasing pattern that the women are marrying American men (mostly white) while the men are going to India to find wives to bring here.

As an Indian woman of your generation and background, are you finding the cultural and family values of most Indian men just aren't modern enough for you?

Gurinder Chadha and Carrie Moore: Gurinder: That's one of the things I talk about in the film. At one point Pinky, the sister, says to Jess (when she has feelings for the Irish coach) asks her if she doesn't want to marry an Indian. So, actually, no. In England, it's quite different now and a lot of the younger generation -- in America, people are still quite segregated culturally. It's very hard to just be Indian in England. When you're young you go clubbing. So, one listens to the same kind of music. The same with soccer, all sorts of people support the teams.

So guys kind of go up, and some are good, and some are chivalrous -- it has more to do with being a guy, and not whether you're Indian.

Gurinder Chadha and Carrie Moore: Gurinder: Culturally, Americans are 10 - 15 years behind Britain.

Arlington, Va.: Carrie, when does the WUSA season start?

Gurinder Chadha and Carrie Moore: Carrie: April 5 is the first game. Our first home game is April 12 and we'll be playing New York, so we still have a month or so and hopefully we'll see some green grass first

Washington, D.C.: When will the film be released in the Washington area?

Gurinder Chadha and Carrie Moore: Gurinder: March 28.

Washington, D.C.: I could really relate to Jess because her life parallels mine in many ways. Not to mention there's a close physical resemblance! Any chance she'll be in D.C. anytime soon? I'd love to meet her!

Gurinder Chadha and Carrie Moore: Gurinder: I think she will be coming to the States at some point. If the film does really well, she'll definitely come and meet people. GO and see the film!

Lyme, Conn.: Ms. Moore,
What is your relationships with the film, as I don't see your name listed in the credits. Are you hopeful this movie will encourage more women to take up soccer? What was your inspiration to take up the sport?

Gurinder Chadha and Carrie Moore: Carrie: I think that there's already a great number of girls and women playing, but this movie did a great job as portraying WUSA and we have players from China and England, Germany, and several countries. My inspiration was my brothers and they were always kicking the ball in the backyard. I continued.

Gurinder: When this film came out in England, we had the number for the women's soccer association in England. THey couldn't handle the calls that came in. These were calls from women wanting to set up their own leagues. Just recently, there was a news report on the BBC where the correspondent in Delhi, India, said the popularity of the movie has caused a girls' football league in India because of the film. So young girls were playing football in the street after the film came out. That makes me really happy because I didn't intend to do that.

I wanted to make the film because when I was in LA in 1999 I bought a pair of Nike trainers and got some free tickets to the WOmen's World Cup, so I went and I was absolutely bowled out by watching the U.S. women play China. That was great. On top of that, I'll never forget seeing the stadium filled with 90,000 spectators. The looks on their faces -- it was a rush and I couldn't get over the faces of these girls jumping up and down and really wanted to capture that -- women cheering women. I think it is such a bonus.

Washington, D.C.: Congratulations Ms. Chadha, this is your best one yet! In fact, probably one of the best films to come out of the South Asian diaspora to date. Loved the ending with the marriage an soccer games intertwined. Can't wait to see it again here in the US. As a South Asian Gay man, I was touched by the sub-sub-plot of the gay friend. Wish you could have explored this topic further, but it is something I sincerely hope you will adddress in one of your future projects...? Keep up the good work.

Gurinder Chadha and Carrie Moore: Gurinder: Thank you. Maybe. My work is generally about identity and who we are and what we are. I try to show that we are all combinations of things and hence I wanted to play with this idea that if you're a woman into sports it doesn't mean you're a lesbian and how comical that is. Micky was meant to show a character that was gay but in ways you wouldn't imagine -- it's totally realistic. You think you're getting one thing, but you see they have other properties.

The way people look at the world is often in too shallow a way.

Somewhere, USA: Does England have women's soccer teams at the college level? I'm curious why the two girls had to come to Santa Clara to play..

Gurinder Chadha and Carrie Moore: Gurinder: We don't. We have a kind of amateur league, but there's nothing like the college league here. Girls can only train in the evening after college or work. There isn't the same attention given, which is why it is critical that Title IX is maintained because sport is just not about playing on a field, but about motivation, inspiration and health and by cutting women playing is like cutting out half the population. It's a fantastic thing to play on a team and we should not deny young girls that opportunity.

Carrie: I don't know much about soccer in England, but I have heard it isn't very highly thought of there. I think the amateur league is the highest they have.

Gurinder: One thing that was wonderful in Britain were like "What, how can you show women in the best football movie we've ever made?" It made the girls look good. Beckham was so sweet, he said he couldn't believe Jess was an amateur. "You guys made the football look so good." People think girls and soccer -- not cool, but they see it and they're like, oh actually, this looks great. There's a shock value.

I've seen that myself in screenings when I do Q&As. When the girls are showing they're skills, people are like "Okay, ya!"

Fairfax, Va.: Just wanted to say that I loved this film, and thought the topic was very unusual. As an Indian-American young woman, I have seen several movies addressing the clash between eastern and western cultures, but this movie was truly unique! Kudos to you and your cast and crew!

Gurinder Chadha and Carrie Moore: Gurinder: That's very sweet!

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