Of Midnight Mass at the nativity church. And in his First Christmas message as monarch, king charles is to pay tribute to his mother, Queen Elizabeth ii. You are watching bbc news. Bend it like beckham 20 years on. Its not fair, the boys never have to come home and help. I wonder if i had an arranged marriage, would i get someone whod let me play football whenever i wanted . Who are you talking to . Move on up by Curtis Mayfield plays. Bend it like beckham was a huge success and it made history as the highest grossing film about football. Hush now, child. My mum probably hates the film because weve watched it that many times. There are so many elements of it that are still true today. I was like, this is me on screen. Shes found her people. Maybe i can find my people. The film actually gave me a bit of clarity on where i wanted to go with my life. Though you may find. People from marginalised communities can find themselves in it, even if its not their own culture. So, to celebrate its 20th anniversary, im going to take a deeper look at the impacts of the film. Commentator and have we discovered a new star here, gary lineker . Thats right, john. Could jess bhamra be the answer to englands prayers . Alan . Crikey, i look a lot younger quick thinking, comfortable on the ball. I tell you what, i wish she was playing for scotland yeah, i think i overacted a little bit. But at the time, i was wondering why i didnt win a bafta. Now, i can see it. It is a bit wooden. No, no, no i am talking about alan hansen, not me. He was wooden. Its one of those scenes that people, when they watch it now, they go oh, yeah i forgot that was in it it was funny because when we got there and then, they kind of explained it to us, and we all went, what . So, its a dream . This woman is coming on and, right, 0k. This sounds a bit weird. What have we agreed to here . Its actually a funny scene. Yeah. Because obviously, you expect her go, oh, she did really well, and this and that and then, she obviously did the exact opposite shes not happy at all that shes playing this ridiculous game called football which i can totally understand. Shes bringing shame on the family and you three should not encourage her. Jesminder, you get back home now when you are filming it, did you know it was going to be so big . When i did it, i cant remember why i said yes because id kind of turned down a lot of things like that normally but, i think i did like the script and thought it was quite cute and funny, but i never imagined it would be the success that it obviously was. Its the highest grossing Football Film ever. Despite hansen, barnes and myself do you know who inspired the Film Which Footballer . Ian wright, and i think. Ian hang on ian wright inspired Bend It Like Beckham . Yeah whys it not bend it like wrighty . Gurinder chadha, the director, saw ian wright wearing a unionjack flag and thought she wanted to write about it, because its kind of like this evolving concept of britishness that she saw within football. What do you think about that, and how football is such a unifier for so many different communities in britain . Well, theres no question that does unify the nation. You just see it in world cups or european championships where everyone gets behind england. In fact, its the only time we do probably come together. You know, if it was what originated the idea of Bend It Like Beckham with ian wright in the unionjack shirt and then, it ended up being Bend It Like Beckham, but you know, anything that involves football and getting more people to play it or different people from asian side of things as well, i think it was one of the attractions to doing it. Its surprising that things havent changed too much in terms of the asian presence in the game. I think theres a slight change weve seen in recent times but hopefully, it will happen and it will become more popular because, you know, a lot of asian people love the game. Its hard to understand why more havent broken through but, you know, from what im hearing, there are far more young asians at academies now than there certainly was 20 years ago when the film came out. Today, im heading over to the National Football museum to speak to three women who work in football, and they all have pretty Different Reasons as to why theyre such big fans of the film. Obviously, the film turns 20 this month, but it still feels so classic and timeless. What is it, do you think, that gives it that timeless feel . There are so many elements of it that are still true today, no matter where you played it, who you played for, who you played with. Fortu nately u nfortu nately, there are still a lot of those bits that i find relatable through my experiences, and im sure a lot of people who they havent watched it before would watch it now and think, oh, ive experienced the same sort of thing. This film kind of brings up all those issues of identity and feeling like you dont quite fit in there but you dont quite fit in there either. And so, i think thats whats timeless about it is that anyone can and so, i think thats whats timeless about it, is that anyone can relate to that, really, regardless of gender or ethnicity. In a way, its sad that its still relatable to todays world, like, 20 years later, but its also its the concept of pushing for womens football, pushing that it shouldnt be womens football, it should just be football in general. What is it that you all personally kind of relate to in the film . I was a massive tomboy growing up. I really relate to whatjules, keira knightley� s character, kind of talked about. Her mums trying to make her buy all this lingerie and shes saying, oh, i just want to wear this sports bra and i definitely related to that. Oh, no, sweetheart, not the sports bras theyre so plain theres a lot of elements in it that i think as a tomboy growing up who Loved Football and peoples perceptions of what you have to be like if you like football and youre a woman, i think this really kind of fell sometimes into those stereotypes but also pushed it in the Sense Thatjust because you like football and you dress a certain way doesnt mean you have to be that idea of what it is to be a woman. And thats important because its such a big part of, like, womens football in this country. Its such a safe space for the lgbt community. Is Bend It Like Beckham kind of ahead of its time in that its challenging those stereotypes . It was challenging things but in a way that they havent changed, so its like well, the challenging did not get us very far, but i do think it was ahead of its time in the way it talked about women playing football and i think it really kind of put and showcased those really cliched stereotypes. Did you swap shirts at the end of matches . Those cliches have lived on, so i think theres an interesting kind of challenge there with how you move the conversation beyond that. Ali, you were a bit older when you first saw it for the first time. What did it teach you about your identity . Yeah, so i was 19 when the film came out and was obsessed with identity. In the most part, that was because so, my dad was indian but he passed away when i was six years old and my mum is half italian, so ive spent most of my life feeling in between. So, when i saw this film, even at the kind of late age of 19, i was like, oh my god, this is me. This is me on screen and shes found her people. Maybe i can find my people. I didnt know it at the time when i watched the film, but its such an important and quite emotional part of my football story. I love it. Kaljit, there still are so few films with british south asian people in them, let alone about football. What did it mean to you when you first watched it . I remember seeing the women in their shorts and their tops. And i was like, ok, this is so cool. I its possible, because as a kid, i your imagination is what takes you. Kids imagination is crazy. And, for me, thats all i needed. It kind of made me feel ok that i played in the park, ithat i did not have a professionall team, that i played with the boys. It kind of made me say its ok to be a street footballer. I really like beckham too. Well, of course you do. No one can cross a ball or Bend It Like Beckham. No, jess. I really like beckham. What is it about normalising sexuality through football that really works well there, do you think . What happens to tony is is he kind of showcases the best part of football the way that he can be comfortable in his own skin, Talking Tojess in the game. I mean, its ok with me. Thats kind of what it should be in an ideal world we would all be in that situation where people feel like when theyre playing football, at whatever level it is, they can be their true selves. She should not be running around with all of these men showing their bare legs to 70,000 people showing her bare legs to 70,000 people shes bringing shame on the family and you three shouldnt encourage her that scene, for me, says a lot. That could be a huge factor why. A lot of women dont play football because in the asian community, its seen as you should not wear shorts. Its such a huge thing. When i play football with young asian girls and i remember i showed up in shorts and all they all were like, oh, my god shes wearing. Shorts and they were kind of, like, shocked. So its still relatable 20 years later. I think it speaks to a really important issue around seeing the female body as an athlete and not a sexualised object. And i think throughout the whole film as well, theres a theres a real kind of challenge around comfort, of around being comfortable in yourskin, around being comfortable with what you wear. The film challenges that throughout because even when shes getting measured up for her sari and the tailor woman is saying, we could even get it around your mosquito. Dont worry. One of our designs, even these Mosquito Bites will look like juicy, Juicy Mangoes someone said that to me once when i was getting a sari fitted, and i was like, this literally Bend It Like Beckham i want to play professionally. Wow, can you do that . I mean, as ajob, like . Sure not really here, but you can in america. One of the best things about watching the film now is looking at the development of womens football in this country. Now, were seeing all of the best american players come here and playing in our league. What is that like for you as womens Football Fans to see that . Where womens football is right now, the wsl being one of the few fully professional leagues in the whole entire world, you know, our National Team is becoming one of the best in the world, it is such an exciting time for womens football but i just think its amazing to see the sort of Grassroots Element of that and what we have now. Thats what i wouldve wanted, desperately, when i was little, is to be able to go and be allowed to play for the school team, because theres actually a girls team at the school, and i think thats something that we really developed in this country. The wsls finally being shown on tv, | and about time, because i think now| people can watch womens football and finally engage with it, because why would people watch i womens football if its not on tv . How would they watch it . They Bend It Like Beckham, you know, came to mean the bending of rules, rather than breaking the rules and breaking with tradition. How have you all kind of bent the rules as women who work in football . Thats a really good question. Oh, i think im doing it the daily. Take a moment, please i think i am doing it, like, daily. I think we all do. I went straight from the ii a side i to the freestyle game because thats how i change the rules for myself. I was thinking, i want to get more creative with it. I want to do something else. And then, i hear it a lot like, oh, youre great. For a woman. I can still skin you with my eyes closed i can either use that as an advantage and keep saying, yeah, i can do one Around The World and everyone can applaud it ior i can push myself and utilisel that and try to push the womens standard even higher so i think, |for me, like, bending the rules| is make your own. I think so much of it is being authentic, being who you want to be and not being influenced by other people. What all of us do is were kind of setting new examples in whatever industry, whatever path were going down. I think thats massively definitely something thats bending is because youre pushing the boundaries of what the idea is to be in those spaces. Its so important for me every time i coach tojust be me. You know sometimes when women are coaching, its kind of like, oh, you have to be literally kind, empathetic, maternal character . And whilst that is true, and thats very much part of my coaching approach, its also you can also be commanding. Ive never met a female coach thats the same as the next female coach. Im sick of this wedding and it hasnt even started there were very few movies at all about women loving football or playing football. Whoops. Oh, will you both pack it in . and very few movies with asian women in the lead role. So to combine the two is pretty wild. And thats inspirational now. Like, for me, like, all right, if she can do that, i can do what i want. In the place we are at now in society as well, there is something so soft and beautiful, to see all the great bits of british culture. What Bend It Like Beckham does is bring out all the best bits to that, whether its football, culture, fashion, comedy. Im joining a girls team. Huh . its all bundled up in one nice lovely package. I always thought the film was only for the asian community. Then i heard all of my team mates in england and america, they all loved the film. It really put the Indian Culture on the map. It wasnt all like someone lecturing you and telling you, ok, this is the barriers you have to face, this is what you have to do. She added such great, quirky humour and educated. Dont you want all of this . Its the best day. Of your life, innit i want more than this. You dont have to just be one thing. You can be multiple things. And i think thats what the film really, really kind of explores. For so many women across society, its youre a black woman, youre a muslim woman, youre a white woman, youre british asian. Theres got to be a label for it. And i think what Bend It Like Beckham does really well is showcase that Intersectionality Jess is british asian, but she loves football, she respects her culture, she loves her culture, shes proud of her culture, shes all those things, shes not fitting in one box. We have so many different elements to who we are as people, and Bend It Like Beckham celebrates all of that. I dont care what the people say. But it wasnt just a success in the uk. It was a huge hit globally. Shireen ahmed is a canadian Sports Journalist whos written academic papers about the film. I am very excited to talk to you today. So, shireen, youre a Bend It Like Beckham superfan. You have said before that Bend It Like Beckham is the most important film in cinematic history. So, im going to qualify that statement. What i meant to say was it was the most impactfulfor me. Before gurinder had created this film, i never saw myself in those intersections represented on film anywhere, and i still havent. Its been 20 years and i havent. The specific intersection the football with Cultural Community life those things for me was wild to see. I cried, i laughed, and i still do 20 years later. Anyone can cook aloo gobi, but who can bend a ball like beckham . It actually changed the trajectory of my life in a way, and i remember sitting there thinking, my gosh, this movie is for me. Its not a movie where im adjacent to the audience. This is intended for me. I had never experienced that before. Phone rings. Theres too much authenticity here. You can tell that the creators of this film were not outside of a community. Yet its intended for you, but so many other people love it. They do, and i think thats one of the things that i didnt realise. But what i do love about this, and thats whats very special, are people from marginalised communities can see themselves in it, even if its not their own culture. This is about queerness in a south asian community, its about interracial relationships, its about Socio Economic stratas, its about immigrant experience, its about integration into community, its about racial abuse, its about exclusion, and its about intergenerational trauma of those experiences, so theres so many ways in which people can come in. One of the things thats really its really wonderful, and unsurprising is the way that globally, people embrace this film. Its a story about love of sport. One of the most impactful scenes for me, and one that i was im still so moved by, tonys driving jess to her match, shes changing out of her sari into her kit. How many times have i had to do that � cause i couldnt be late for the community event, i couldnt be late for this aunty� s dinner, changing in your car, trying to put on an outfit thats glittery and has chiffon on it and how to wraps and how its supposed to look and youre supposed to be this seamless vision of dignity and grace, but youre sweating and your heart is still beating and, you know, its just that that its complicated. Its not going to be seamless and its ok to make mistakes, its ok to feel overwhelmed, but you keep going. And like you said, its physically changing in her car, but then she has to go and change who she is she has to go from being a daughter and a sister and part of that community to a Football Player whos competing, and then we see her back in the changing rooms when all her team mates are wrapping the sari around her, and that connection between the two where you can see the kit and her sari is so visually beautiful, but also, its also such a big metaphor for the whole film, isnt it . It is absolutely, and thats one of my favourite scenes. And that particular photo is really interesting because its almost like an aerial view, but a top view onto the sari in the dressing room, and it says that that belongs there. Thatjuxtaposition of the sari, what we perceive is a juxtaposition belongs there. Shes an integral part of that team. And, you know, her team mates have questions for her. My sisters getting married soon. Its a love match. Whats that mean . Its not arranged . So, if you can choose, does that mean you can marry a white boy . White . No. Black, definitely not. A muslim. Uh uh those are ways of also bridging gaps, which is what sport is wonderful for, which is also exemplified in the film. For a lot of us, jess bhamra is a hero because we didnt see ourselves on the big screen like we do now, and the make up of the actual teams is still what it looks like today its a lot of white girls with a couple of black players, with a couple of south asian or east asian players, and still what it looks like. So, as much as we want to love and celebrate this film, it is a reminder of how much work we actually have to do. Can you tell me a bit about the impact it had on northern american audiences . Because obviously, it came out quite soon after 9 11 happened, where attitudes toward south asian communities had changed anyway, and this hopefully made them change again and see people differently. The timing of this film was also really important. The ways in which south asian communities have felt the reverberations of that violence and the uptake of the violence and the re emergence of said violence is still happening, and this film told a story about a family, and it used sport as a connector to do that while also using beautifully captured visuals and music and joy. And that, at that time, when it came out in 2002, was really important. It was one of the first times i had feltjoy in able to revel in this, because, you know, of what had happened of 9 11, and because you were part of a certain community, you were obviously considered to be complicit or associated. Its almost like we were always apologising for 20 years. Well, this film gave us a moment to stop apologising and just be who we were. Do yourthing rosie kmita, the first south asian woman to play in the wsl. Youre kind of like a real lifejess, arent you . I might put that in my bio tell me about the first time you saw Bend It Like Beckham and where you were and how it made you feel. Yeah, do you know what, i always remember exactly where i was. I was at home, i was with my family and we were all really excited to watch it because it was obviously about a young asian girl, up and coming, Loved Football, wanted to go and play in america, and that was her dream, and weirdly, like, me and molly would sit and watch it and think, this is like our life story, really its a little bit bizarre. Football shoes i thought it was really, really insightful in terms of Asian Heritage and the stigma attached to asians in football and the difficulty that comes with being an asian playing the game. I remember me and mol would have to pause it and be, like, that is crazy like, certain conversations that theyd have in the film, wed be having with our mates over the park. But i really liked the way they portrayed the storyline, right, because it was in a light hearted way. Jess, man, whos yourfriend with the gorgeous bod . The one with the sixpack if he looks at me, i really will faint. Some of the issues that the main characters had to go through are not nice issues, right, so it could have been a dark storyline and a dark film to watch. But i think they really portrayed in a light hearted way, which i thought was great. Wasjess a role model for you . Yeah, i think she was. I think she kept her head down, she worked hard, she stuck to the process, even when there were barriers in her way with her parents and the issues that come with that, she still knew what she wanted to go out and achieve, and i think thats really, really important for young people to see. Whats crazy is thatjess was probably, for a lot of south asian girls, the only role model that looked like us and was from the same background and she wasnt real, which is sad. Yeah, it is sad, it is sad, and when you think about that, the fact that we had to really use our imagination in that sense and look at a film and think, oh, ok, that is possible, but it was a film, right. Whereas now, you can look at the likes of myself, maz, who plays at aston villa at the moment, you can now see it and i think thats the beauty of the difference that weve seen 20 years on, right, if we really focus on the positives. I know weve got a Long Way To Go, but were getting there. What parts of the film are especially relatable to you . Its gotta be the scene where shes with the boys in the park playing, because honestly, that was my childhood every single day out with the boys. Do you know when you do likejumpers, goal posts. Practising my free kicks, but, yeah, that was my childhood completely. Youd be playing from day till night, and so when i saw that part of the film and i sat back and watched it, i thought, this is me. How much did having molly there with you that whole time help you see that . You know, shes doing as well and she looks exactly the same as me. Yeah, do you know what, and i always say this when people ask me, it is such a blessing that i had molly by my side growing up, because being a young girl in football, being the only girls in the playground, being the only girls at the park playing, that is very, very difficult to do alone because youve got so many people looking over at you, thinking, why she playing . Shes a girl. So the fact that i had molly at my side, we kind of were able to like break down the barriers together, which i thought was great. You think about the impacts of a film like this, but then you see someone like you who literally watched that film growing up, and that impact is so real because now youre playing football and you play professionally, and you are in the wsl that is really crazy, isnt it . It is crazy. Listen, i was so young when that film came out as well. I think the film actually gave me a little bit of clarity on where i wanted to go with my life and what direction i wanted to take it. I saw her go to america and me and mol would look at each other and think, thats what we can do and thats what we want to do. � cause back when i was growing up, america was the place to be. I truly believe the wsl now is where the place to be in terms of the best league in the world, but growing up, everyones dream was to go to america and play, and i think watching a film really, really did give me some clarity on that. And looking 20 years on, theres still so little asian representation within football. How do you view that . Yeah, its a tough one to take, really. Because i notice so many young asian players out there who are talented and i think weve got a Long Way To Go with still breaking that stigma, especially in asian households. Yeah, but i like to focus on the positives and the fact that theres young asians representing us now in the game and i think thats really, really important, that when we do have the platform that we do, and i speak on behalf of myself, i suppose, as someone in the game whos of Asian Heritage, that we speak on the issues and also represent asians in the right way, and i think thats very, very important. So, any young girls that are looking to get into the game can see us and kind of believe that its possible, which i think� s very important, because i never had that growing up apart from the film, right. Like, literally, the film is the only thing that i can think of that was front facing on tv that i could relate to. And its been 20 years since the film came out, but in 20 years, what would you like the Football Landscape to look like . I think more of the same in terms of womens football in general, i think were going on the right direction. Euros coming up, its an exciting time for everyone. And i think the stigma around womens football in general has changed massively, and im so relieved about that. I feel like ive lived through that whole process, its just been great. And then if i think about it from an asian perspective, i want us to be able to talk about ourselves in the landscape of womens football without mentioning the fact that were asian, and just that were Football Players. I think id love that. Hello. We still have a mild flow of South Westerly Winds across the country, notjust today but South Westerly Winds across the country, not just today but for Christmas Day as well. A lot of cloud around, a lot of these pretty wave clouds around this morning. That shows extensive cloud, particular to the north west. Turning wet over the next few hours. We have got South Westerly Winds dragging this mild air across the uk. Temperatures are several degrees above average for december. We take above average for december. We take a look at the radar picture, we can see rain gathering across northern ireland, so turning wet here in that zone of heavy rain is starting to make inroads now into western scotland. That is where the wettest weather is at the moment, a few showers elsewhere. 0vernight tonight we have this band of Rain Slowly Pushing Eastwards across the country. All the while it stays quite windy, with South Westerly Winds bringing mild weather conditions. It is a frost free night with temperatures around nine celsius, heading into the first part of Christmas Day. The area of low pressure stays to the north of the country. For most of us, we are going to keep those South Westerly Winds, so it will be a mild day, but there will be some rain around. The wettest weather is across western areas, a few sunny areas in eastern areas. The Wrinklies Southwards in scotland and we start to get some cold air edging in. We could cease showing showers, may be a few snow showers as we head into christmas evening and christmas night time. For one or two, it could be a white christmas, but for most it wont be. What follows is some pretty chilly air, as we head into boxing day morning, temperatures will be well below freezing pretty wildly at cross the north of the country. For boxing day certainly snow around for scotland and there will be some accumulations, one to three centimetres at low levels. Around five centimetres around, grain, so some poor travelling conditions. Temperatures will be down on recent days so it will feel quite a bit cooler. Beyond that, between christmas and heading to new year, it is going to be quite cloudy with heavy outbreaks of rain, an unsettled weather pattern. It will be quite windy, particularly through wednesday when we are looking at gales, or maybe even severe gales developing across western areas. For christmas, it is forecast to stay mild for most, but colder air edges into the north West Of Scotland. It is just the north West Of Scotland where there is a chance of snow showers, late on Christmas Day. This is bbc news welcome if youre watching here in the uk or Around The World. Im maryam moshiri. Our top stories . Our top stories. Plunging temperatures are gripping much of the United States and canada, with more than 250 Million People facing life than 250 Million People facing life threatening conditions. Weve had ice, flooding, snow, freezing temperatures and everything that Mother Nature could win at us this weekend. Protests turn violent, as thousands of people take to the streets of paris after a gunman with a history of Racist Violence killed three people at a kurdish cultural centre