Melanie Blatt Young Theatre School where she met Nicole Appleton. The two girls became best friends. During this period, Blatt also played young Eponine in "Les Misérables" for six months, and was the understudy for Cosette together with fellow Sylvia Young student Denise van Outen. In 1993, Blatt sang under the name Melanie Guillaume in the band Drive with Julienne Davis. They released one single, "Curfew", together. She also did backing vocals for Dreadzone with Denise van Outen. Later that year, Blatt met Shaznay Lewis at the Metamorphosis recording studio in All Saints Road, London. Together, with Simone Rainford, they formed the
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