it's not fair, the boys never have to come home to help. if i had an arranged marriage would i get someone who would let me play football whenever i wanted. who are you talking to? bend it like beckham was a huge success and it made history as the highest grossing film about football. my mum probably hates the film because we've watched it that many times. there are so many elements that are still true today is. i was like, this- is me on the screen, she's found her people, - maybe i can find my people. the film gave me a bit of clarity on where i wanted to go with my life. people from marginalised communities can see themselves there, even if it's not their own culture. to celebrate the 20th anniversary i'm going to take a deeper look at the impact of the film. and have we discovered - a new star here, gary lineker? that's right, john. i wish she was playing for scotland. at the time i was wondering why i didn't win a ba fta. now i can see it. it is a bit wooden. no, no. talking about alan hansen, not me. it's one of those it seems that people when they watch it now, iforgot it was in it. when we got there and they explained it to us we all went, what?! it's a dream, and this woman is coming on, ok? this sounds a bit weird. what have we agreed to? but it's a funny scene. you expect them to go, she did really well, and then it's the exact opposite, not happy at all that she's playing this ridiculous game called football which i can totally understand. she is bringing shame on the family are due three shouldn't encourage her. you get back home right now. when you are filming a did you know it would be so big? when i did it, i can't remember why i said yes because i turned down a lot of things like that normally but 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. the highest grossing football film ever. despite alan hansen and myself. do you know which footballer that inspired the film? ian wright. hang on, ian wright inspired bend it like beckham? yeah. why isn't it bend it's like wrighty? the director saw ian wright wearing the unionjack flag and she wanted to write about it. it's this evolving britishness she saw in football. what you think about that and how football is such a unifier for so many communities in britain? there is no question that football unifies the nation. you see it in the world cup and european championships when everyone gets behind england. in fact it's the only time we do probably come together. if that's what originated the idea of phil with ian wright in a unionjack shirt and it ended up being bend it like beckham, anything that involves football and getting more people to play it or more people from the asian side of things as well, i think it was one of the attractions to doing it. it's surprising things haven't changed too much in terms of the asian presence in the game. i think there is a slight change i have seen in recent times but hopefully it will happen and it will become more popular because a lot of asian people love the game. it's hard to understand why more haven't broken through. but from what i'm hearing there are far more young asians at academies now than there certainly was 20 years ago when the film came out. today i'm heading to the national football museum to speak to three women who work in football. they've all got pretty different reasons as to why they are such big fans of the film. the film turns 20 this month but it still feels so classic and timeless. what is it, do you think, that gives it the timeless feel? there are so many elements that are still true today, no matter where you played it, you played for and who you played with. fortunately and unfortunately there are still a lot of bits that i find relatable in my experience and i'm sure a lot of people who have never watched it before would watch it now and think, i've experienced the same sort of thing. this film brings up those issues of identity and feeling like you don't quite fit in there but you don't quite fit in there either. i think that's what's timeless about it, anyone can relate to that, regardless of gender or ethnicity. . in a way it's sad that it still. relatable today, 20 years later. but also its the concept of pushing for- women's football, pushing that it shouldn't be women's football, iti should just be football in general. what is it that you all personally relate to in the film? i was a massive tomboy growing up. i really relate to whatjules, keira knightley�*s character talks about. her mum is trying to make her buy lingerie and she wants to wear this sports bra. i definitely relate to that. the sports bras are so plain! there's a lot of elements in it, as a tomboy growing up who loved football and people's perceptions of what you have to be like if you like football and you are a woman. this fell sometimes into the stereotypes but also pushed it, in the sense thatjust because you like football and dress a certain way doesn't mean you have to be that idea of what it is to be a woman. it is important because it's such a big part of it such a safe place for the lg bt+ community. is bend it like beckham ahead of its time in challenging those stereotypes? it's challenging things but in a way they haven't changed. the challenging didn't get us very far but it was out of its time in the way talked about women playing football and i think it showcased those cliched stereotypes. do you swap shirts - at the end of matches? those cliches have moved on. there is an interesting challenge as to how we move the conversation beyond that. you were older when you saw it the first time. what did it teach you about your identity? i was 19 when the film came out and i was obsessed with identity. in the most part it was because my dad was indian but he passed away when i was six years old. my mum is half italian so i have spent most of my life feeling in between. when i saw this film, even at the late age of 19, i was like, this is me. this is me on the screen. and she's found her people. maybe i can find my people. i didn't know it at the time when i watched the film but it is such an important and quite emotional part of my football story. i love it. there are still 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 women in shorts and tops and i thought it was - so cool, it was possible. as a kid your imagination takes you. it made me feel ok that i played in the| park, i didn't have a professional team and i played with the boys. i it made me say, it's ok to be a street. footballer. nobody 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? what happens to tony is he showcases the best part of football, the way he can be comfortable in his own skin talking tojess in the game. it's ok, isn't it? in an ideal world, that's what it should be. we would be in that situation where people feel that when they play football, whatever level, they can be their true self. she shouldn't be running around with these men l showing her bare legs to 70,000 people. i she is bringing shame on the family |and you three are encouraging her. | that scene means a lot. it can be a huge factor as to why women don't play football. in the asian community, women shouldn't wear shorts. i remember playing with asian girls and i showed up in shorts and they were like, oh my god, they were shocked. it is still relatable 20 years later. it speaks to a really important issue around seeing the female body as an athlete and not a sexualised object. throughout the whole film there is a real kind of challenge around comfort and being comfortable in your skin and comfortable in what you wear. the film challenges that throughout because even when she is getting measured up for her sari and the taylor woman is saying, we can even get it around your mosquito. even though use mosquito bites will look like juicy mangoes. - someone said that to me when i was getting a sari fitted and i was like, it's literally like bend it like beckham. i want to play professionally. can you do that as a job? not here but you can in america. one of the best things about watching the film now was looking at the development of women's football in this country. now we see the best american players come here to play in our league. what's that like for you as women's football fans to see that? the wsl is one of the few professional leagues in the whole entire world. our national team is becoming one of the best in the world. it such an exciting time for women's football but it's amazing to see the grass roots elements of that and what we have now. that's what i would have wanted, desperately, when i was little, to be able to go and be allowed to play for the school team because there is actually a girl's team at the school and that's something we have developed in this country. the wsl is finally being shown on tv and it's about time. _ people can watch women's football and finally engage with it. - why would people i watch if it's not on tv, how would they watch it? bend it like beckham came to mean the bending of rules rather than breaking the rules and breaking tradition. how have you all bent the rules as women who work in football? that's a really good question. i think i'm doing it daily. i think we all do. i went straight from the ii a side to the freestyle game. that's how i change the rules for myself. i wanted to be more creative and do something else. i hear it a lot, you are great for a woman. i can either use that to my advantage and keep saying, yeah, i can do one around the world and people can upload it, or i can push myself and utilise that and try to push the women's standard even higher. for me, bending the rules. so much of it as being authentic, being who you want to be not being influenced by other people. what all of us do is we are kind setting new examples in whatever industry or path we are going down. i think that's massively, definitely, something that spending, because you are pushing the boundaries of what the idea is to be in those spaces. it's so important i to me, every time i coach, tojust be me. you know sometimes - when women are coaching it's like you have to be this really kind, empathetic - and maternal character. whilst that is true and it's very much part of my coaching - approach, you also be commanding. i have never met a female coach that is the same - as the next female coach. i'm sick of this wedding and it hasn't even started. there are very few women at all about women loving football and playing football. will you both pack it in? and very few movies with asian women in the lead roles, so to combine the two is inspirational. for me, that views me to be, if she can do that, i can do whatever 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, whether it's football, culture, fashion, comedy. i'm joining a girl's team. it's all bundled up in one nice lovely package. i always thought the film was only for the asian community and then i heard all my team—mates in england and america loved the film. gurinder chadha put indian culture on the map. it wasn't like someone lecturing you and telling you about the barriers you have to face. she added great, quirky humour, and educated. it's the best day of your life? i want more than this. you don't have to just be one thing, you can be multiple things and that's what the film really explores. for so many women across society, it is, you are there has to be a label for it. i think what bend it like beckham does is showcase that intersectionality. jess is british asian but loves football. she respects, loves and is proud of her culture, she is all those things, she doesn't fit in one box. we have so many elements to who we are as people and bend it like beckham celebrates all that. but it wasn't just a success in the uk. it was a huge hit globally. shireen ahmed is a canadian sports journalist who has written academic papers about the film. i am excited to talk to you today. you are a bend it like beckham super fan. you have said before that bend it like beckham is their most important film in cinematic history. i'm going to qualify that statement. what i meant to say was, it's the most impactful for me. before gurinder chadha created this film i never saw me in those intersections represented on film. and i still haven't. it's been 20 years and i haven't. the specific intersections of football, with a cultural community life. those things for me, it was wild to see and i cried and laughed and i still do 20 years later. it actually changed the trajectory of my life in a way. i remember sitting there thinking, my gosh, this movie is for me. it's not a movie where i am adjacent to the audience. this is intended for me. i'd never experienced that before. there's too much authenticity here. you can tell that the creators of this film were not outside of the community. yet it's intended for you but so many other people love it. they do, and i think that's one of the things i didn't realise. what i love about this, and that's very special, is that people from marginalised communities can see that even if it's not their own culture. it's notjust about the south asian community, its interracial relationships, socioeconomics, integration into community, racial abuse, exclusion. and it's about intergenerational trauma of those experiences was that there are so many ways in which people can come in. one of the things that it's really wonderful and unsurprising is the way that globally people have embraced the film. it's a story about the love of sport. one of the most impactful scenes for me, and one that i am still so moved by, driving jess to her match, changing out of her sari into her kit. how many times have i done that? i couldn't be late for dinner. changing in the car, trying to put an outfit that is glittery, how it wraps and how it is supposed to look. the scene was a vision of dignity and grace. but you are actually sweaty and your heart is still beating. it's just that, it's complicated. it will not be seamless, it's ok to make mistakes and it's ok to feel overwhelmed but you keep going. like you say, it's physically changing in the car but then she has to change who she is. she has to go from being a daughter, a sister and part of the community, to a football player who is competing. then we see her back in the changing rooms when all her team—mates are wrapping the sari around her. the connection between the two, you can see the kit and the sari, it is so visually beautiful but it is such a big metaphor for the whole film. it is absolutely. that's one of my favourite scenes. that particular photo is really interesting because it's almost like, not an aerial view, but a top view in the dressing room and it says, that belongs there. thatjuxtaposition of the sari and what we perceive as a juxtaposition, belongs there. she is an integral part of the team. and her team—mates have questions for her. what to say love match mean? so can you marry a white boy? white, no. black, definitely not. it bridges gaps, which sport is wonderfulfor. for a lot of us, jess is a hero because we didn't see ourselves on the big screen like we do now. the make—up of the team is still what it looks like today. a lot of white girls with a couple of black players and a couple of south east asian players. that's still what it looks like. as much as we want to love and celebrate the film it's a reminder of how much work we still have to do. can you tell me a bit about the impact it had on north american audiences? it came out quite soon after 9/11 happened where attitudes to south asian communities had changed anyway. and this hopefully made them change again and see people differently. the timing of the film was 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. this film told a story about a family. it used sport as a connector to do that while also using beautifully captured visuals and music and joy. at that time, when it came out in 2002, was really important. it was one of the first times i had feltjoy in being able to revel in this. because of what had happened after 9/11, and because you were part of a certain community, you are obviously considered to be complicit or associated. it's almost like we were apologising for 20 years. this film gave us the opportunity to stop apologising and just be who we were. rosie, the first south asian woman to play in wsl you like a real—lifejess. when did you first see film? i remember exactly where i was. i was at home with my family. the family wanted to watch it, it was about a young, up—and—coming footballer. wanted to go out to america to live her dream to stop me and molly used to watch it and think, this is like our life story. it's a bit bizarre. i just thought it was 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 molly would pause it like, that's crazy. certain conversations they have in the film, we would have with our mates in the park. i liked the way they portrayed the storyline because it was in light—hearted way. who is your friend - with the gorgeous body? if he looks at me i will faint. some of the issues the main characters go through are not nice issues. it could have been a dark storyline and a dark film to watch but i think they portrayed it in a light—hearted way which was great. wasjess a role model for you? i think she was. she kept her head down and worked hard and stuck to the process. even when there were barriers in her way, with her parents and the issues that came from that, she knew what she wanted to achieve and that's really important for young people to see. what's crazy is thatjess was probably for a lot of south asian girls, their only role model, that looked like us and was from the same background and she wasn't real. that's sad. when we had to use our imagination in that sense and look at a film and think, that's possible. now you can look at the likes of myself, you can see it and that's the beauty of the difference we have seen 20 years on, as we focus on the positives. we have a long way to go but we will get there. what parts of the home are especially relatable to you? the scene with the boys in the park playing. honestly, that was my childhood. every single day, out with the boys. when you do jumpers as goalposts. practising my free kicks. that was my childhood completely. playing from day till night. when i saw that part of the film, i sat back and watched it and thought, this is me. how much did having molly there with you the whole time help to you, she is doing the same as you and she looks the same as me. it is such a blessing to have molly by my side growing up. being a young girl in football, being the only girls in the playground, and at the park playing, it's very difficult to do alone. because you have so many people looking at you and thinking, why is she playing, she is a girl. the fact molly was by my side, we were able to break down the barriers together which was great. think about the impact of a film like this, but then see someone like you who watch the film growing up, that impact is so real because now you are playing football, you play professionally in the wsl and that's crazy. it is crazy. i was so young when the film came out. i think the film gave me clarity on where i wanted to go with my life and what direction i wanted to take it. i saw her go off to america and me and molly looked at each other and thought, that's what we want to do and that's what we can do. when i was growing up in america was the place to be. i truly believe the wsl is now the place to be in terms of the best league in the world but growing up everyonemy dream was to go to america and play. i think watching the film gave me some clarity on that. looking 20 years on, there's still so little asian representation within football. how do you view that? it's a tough one to take, really. i know there are so many young asian players out there who are talented. we have a long way to go with still breaking that stigma, especially in asian households. i like to focus on the positives, and there is asians representing us now in the game and that's really important. when we have the platform we do. i speak on behalf of myself, as someone in the game, who is of asian heritage, that we speak on the issues and also represent asians in the right way. i think that's very important. any young girls that are looking to get into the game can see us and kind of believe that it's possible, which i think is very important because i never had that growing up apart from the film. it's literally, the film is the only thing i can think of that was front facing, on tv, that i could relate to. 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 women's football in general, i think we are going in the right direction. the euros coming up, an exciting time for everyone. the stigma around women's football in general has changed massively and i'm so relieved about that. i've lived through that process and it's great. looking at it from an asian perspective, i want us to be able to talk about ourselves in the landscape of women's football without mentioning the fact we are asian and just as football players. i would love that. nessun dorma plays. cheering. hello there. it looks like the weather is going to cool down a bit from tomorrow, but today most parts of the country will again be warm with some sunshine. but we've got this change happening, really, across some western most parts of the uk, with those weather fronts actually bringing more cloud and bringing some rain as well. but ahead of that, with the sunshine, pollen levels are remaining high across much of england and wales, but also into some central and southern parts of scotland, where we're seeing the best of the hazy sunshine. there is a bit more cloud across southern parts of scotland, that rain mainly affecting the western isles this afternoon, continuing in northern ireland and some rain pushing late in the day into western fringes of wales and the far southwest of england. that will peg the temperatures back a bit here, but ahead of that in the sunshine, temperatures are widely 18 degrees and could make 20 for the fa cup semifinal at wembley. that band of rain then continues to push its way eastwards overnight. it'll be followed by some showers for northern ireland into scotland and over the irish sea, and the breeze will pick up a little bit as well. temperatures overnight will be at sixes and sevens, but as you can see, there's little or no rain running through the midlands, much of southern england as well, that weather for much weaker here. it's more active further north, and that's where we've got most of the rain nearer that area of low pressure. and it's around that that we've got the stronger winds overnight and into tomorrow. the winds more of a westerly and that will bring in cooler, fresher air. there's our weather front, that band of cloud there. the rain moves away into the north sea. cloud could linger in the southeast, perhaps, for a while, and then we'll see some sunny spells, a few showers around, most of the showers for northern ireland and particularly western scotland, where we've got these stronger winds for all of us. it will be cooler during tomorrow, but still 16 or 17 degrees with some sunshine towards south eastern parts of england. heading into tuesday, it probably starts off quite chilly. actually, those showers of monday will have cleared away and then we'll see more showers developing, i think, on tuesday. slow—moving, perhaps heavy, showers, some sunshine around as well, but temperatures are continuing to drop away. typically, 13 or 1a celsius in the afternoon and really through the rest of the week, it remains dry, those showers do tend to fade away, but we'll see easterly winds picking up. that means temperatures are going to be near average and the best of the weather is likely to be in the west. this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories: russia urges ukrainian forces in mariupol to surrender in order to save their lives — but there's no sign yet that they've laid down their arms. president zelensky warns there will be consequences, if russia takes action against the remaining troops in the city. translation: the elimination of our troops, of our men in mariupol will put an end to any negotiations. the death toll rises in south africa — following heavy flooding — with a warning more rain may be on the way. the archbishop of canterbury — the most senior cleric in the anglican church condemns plans by the uk government to send asylum seekers to rwanda.

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