Entertainment / Gurinder Chadha On The Timeless Story Of Empowerment In “Bend It Like Beckham: The Musical”

Gurinder Chadha On The Timeless Story Of Empowerment In “Bend It Like Beckham: The Musical”

Entertainment Dec 20, 2019

by Hina P. Ansari

Bringing the iconic film to the stage was a creative journey for director/writer Gurinder Chadha. In an exclusive chat she shared with us her excitement about bringing Bend It Like Beckham: The Musical across the pond to Toronto and everything that came along with it.

Bend It Like Beckham written and directed by Gurinder Chadha lit up Hollywood when it came out in 2002. And poetically enough, 17 years later, on December 17th the curtains were raised at Toronto’s St. Lawrence Centre of the Arts for the North American premiere of the play’s adaptation of her film. After its critically-acclaimed run at the Phoenix Theatre in London’s West End four years earlier, it was Toronto producer and CEO of Starvox Entertainment Corey Ross who, after seeing the British production, felt that it would be a great addition to the Toronto and Canadian theatre scene. Bend It Like Beckham: The Musical boasts a diverse cast mostly from Toronto which electrified the evening. Chadha who produced and co-wrote the play with her husband Paul Mayeda Berges, was also in attendance with her family, took time out before showtime to chat with us about transitioning her iconic story from screen to stage and why she felt Toronto was the perfect place for her play’s North American premiere.

Hina P. Ansari: Bend It Like Beckham: The Musical debuted on stage in May 2015 at the Phoenix in London’s West End. How did you feel watching the transition of your story from screen to stage?

Gurinder Chadha: It was incredible. Because I feel that the musical of Bend It Like Beckham is incredibly moving. It is very touching. We’re able to go deeper into the story of the parents particularly. So, you have these Sirdarjis singing onstage about their life in England. And you have mothers singing as well. These are people that you never really see on the stage, singing in that way. And they get to sing about their hardships, “but now look at us”, you know, they’re very happy with their lives now. It’s a celebration.

And also, throughout, when we have all the soccer. We have wonderful song and dance sequences, which are very energetic. Their football team, the Harriets and Jess and Jules are very much part of that. You would get this real athletic movements that come from training. So, all in all, it’s very, very diverse. Very representative, you know, of sort of a different kind of woman on stage and also our community. So, that I think is very powerful when you first see the show.

HPA: Why did you want to have the North American premiere in Toronto?

GC: Corey Ross, the local producer from here came to see the show in England. And really liked it. And suggested it. And I thought Toronto is a great city for this show because it’s so diverse. And it carries that diversity on its sleeve. I also have a long history with Toronto. My first film Bhaji On The Beach was shown here at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). I met my husband here. And obviously Bend It Like Beckham was screened here at TIFF.

HPA: You are the co-director for the play here, correct?

GC: I directed the show in London. Here, I was helping Madeline Paul who is a very accomplished director. I was just helping her culturally and story-wise with certain things.

HPA: What tweaks did you have to make in order for the transition from screen to stage to be successful?

GC: The transfer from film to stage, there are differences. But the performances are the same. The story telling is the same. There are song and dance numbers. The story is so strong and I know the story so well, because it’s my story and my parents. You just have to find ways to make it theatrical as opposed to cinematic, you know? So, that took a little bit of time to get that going. There are lots of ways you can cheat for example, in theatre that you can’t in film. Because film is so real, you know? But I found it to be a very interesting, creative journey.

HPA: How do you feel about introducing the Bend It story to a whole new generation?

GC: The show stands up on its own. You don’t have to see the film for the story to work. It’s its own journey. And as I said, it goes deeper. Everyone gets their own songs. It’s very rich.

HPA: Lyricist Charles Hart who worked on Phantom of the Opera wrote the lyrics for the songs for this play. What was it like working with him?

GC: Charles is a genius with words. As is Howard Goodall, the composer. And the two of them work very well together. I just sat and talked to them about what the songs should be about in my opinion, and what the characters are saying or what the themes are. And we had these very deep conversations. We would spend hours talking about the film, the themes of the film, my parents’ generation and girl power. And then I would go off. And then, “Wow” I would be presented by these amazing songs by Charles and Howard with very clever lyrics, which reflected my own experience and my parents’ experience. The music is just beautiful the way it fuses. And we go from proper West End style Broadway numbers to Satna Waheguru Simran, we have Bhangra and Giddha along with this energetic sports type music. So, it’s a complete mélange. A complete fusion.

HPA: Tell me about the choreography which is quite unique taking into account the sports theme.

GC: Yes, we have dancing, of course we have Bhangra and Giddha. But also we have great dances when it comes to football. As the football is done through choreography. So we have the girls looking very dynamic which was the whole point of the movie as well.

HPA: The cast — are they Canadian?

GC: Most of the cast are Canadian and it’s local production.

HPA: How was the audition process?

GC: That took a while, I think. We really had to make sure we covered every corner. Because at first, we weren’t sure we would find everyone here. And we were casting in New York as well. And we were looking in different places. And in the end, it was fantastic. Because we ended up finding most people from here. The lead girl, Laila [Zaidi], she’s from England. And Pinky [Blythe Jandoo] is from England. But everyone else is local.

HPA: Local, meaning from Toronto?

GC: Yes.

HPA: This is the North American premiere are their plans to expand to other cities across Canada or the U.S.?

GC: There’s certainly a lot of interest. Lets see how it goes today and see what the reviews are like. People have to understand that it’s not just a show for Indians or Asians even though they are the predominant members of the cast. They should see it as a mainstream show and hopefully people will. Certainly the movie was seen like that. If people imagine the play like that it should happen.

You can check out Bend It Like Beckham: The Musical at the Bluma Appel Theatre at St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in Toronto from December 8, 2019 to January 5, 2020. Click here for full ticket and show information.

Main Image Photo Credit: Seanna Kennedy Photography 2019 Starvox

Hina P. Ansari

Author

Hina P. Ansari is a graduate from The University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario). Since then she has carved a successful career in Canada's national fashion-publishing world as the Entertainment/Photo Editor at FLARE Magazine, Canada's national fashion magazine. She was the first South Asian in...

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Gurinder Chadha On The Timeless Story Of Empowerment In “Bend It Like Beckham: The Musical”

by Hina P. Ansari

Hina P. Ansari

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