High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 comedy-drama film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha. Its title comes from the soccer player David Beckham and his skill at scoring from free kicks by "bending" (curving) the ball past a wall of defenders.