Bend It Like Beckham South Korea, Martin Uden, said it was the "first ever Western-made film to air on television" in North Korea. A stage musical version of the film opened at London's Phoenix Theatre in June 2015. Bend It Like Beckham Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 British-Indian family romantic comedy sports film produced, written and directed by Gurinder Chadha, and starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis and Archie Panjabi. The film's title refers to the football player David Beckham, and his skill at scoring from free kicks by curling the ball past a wall of
Bend It Like Beckham the role of Jess's mother, Mrs Bhamra, Chadha turned to Shaheen Khan, whom she had previously cast in "Bhaji on the Beach". Anupam Kher, a Bollywood actor, was cast as Mr Bhamra, Jess's father. Chadha worked with The Football Association and ended up casting actual players from a variety of school teams. "Bend It Like Beckham" was released theatrically on 12 April 2002 by Redbus Film Distribution. The film then received a limited theatrical release in the United States on 12 March 2003, by Fox Searchlight Pictures. When originally released in the United Kingdom, it topped the country's box office