The rumour started in the British press and filtered in all the way to India. Gurinder Chadha to make a sequel to her cult film Bend It Like Beckham. But Gurinder is amused and horrified at the very idea. “Am I completely insane to go back to Beckham? My dear, that train left the station long ago. There’s absolutely no reason for me to return to it. I think the rumour started when this silly journalist from a British paper asked me at a party what I wanted to do next. I told her I was writing, that I wanted to return to my roots, and that Beckham was part of my roots. The next thing I knew they had announced a sequel! They even put up stories on the website about Keira Knightley being in it. Poor thing! I’m just not interested in Beckham any longer.”

What interests Gurinder right now is to write. “That’s what I’ve returned to England for. Lately, I’ve been travelling so much I’m completely drained. I just want to put down my thoughts, share my inner feelings with myself. Movie offers? Oh, there are so many! I returned to London with a mailbox clogged with scripts.”

Gurinder’s proposed next film was a big Hollywood project, I Dream Of Jeannie, with Kate Hudson. “That’s been put on hold. I’m re-writing the script, changing the stress and accents from the original television serial to suit these times.” Gurinder is also excited about a film in and on Paris that she has just completed. “It’s an entire pastiche of Parisian tales called Paris Je T’Aime where 20 directors including the Cohen Brothers, Alexander Payne and Wes Craven have contributed.”

There are only two female directors in the episodic film, the other being a Spanish lady, and only two Asians ? the other being a Japanese director. “That’s right,” Gurinder laughs. “My five-minute story is about a Muslim girl and a French guy. I’ve introduced a topical element into the proceedings. It was very exciting to tell a story in such little space.”

Another story that she has told within limited space is for a brand of guitar. “I shot my first-ever ad?and that, too, in Mumbai. Yes, I sneaked in three weeks ago, shot this ad for a really cool brand of guitar and left without anyone being wiser?I had no time to socialise. In any case my friend and brother Karan Johar wasn’t in Mumbai, so I had nothing to look forward to. I’m really looking forward to his new film. I haven’t had a good cry for a long time (laughs).” Gurinder returns to Mumbai in February for the release of her husband Paul Berges’ directorial debut, Mistress Of Spices. “And it won’t be dubbed into Hindi, and be ruined like my Bride & Prejudice was.”

Whether it’s for making a film on love in Paris during times of stress and strife, or not making a sequel to Bend It Like Beckham, Gurinder Chadha seems to be in the news constantly these days. On November 22, she received an honorary doctorate at the Sheffield Hallam University. Gurinder was joined by Radio broadcaster Jenni Murray, author Malorie Blackman, designer and sculptor Thomas Heatherwick and cultural theorist Victor Burgin. Announcing the honour, the awards committee credited Gurinder with “bringing Bollywood colour to the British screen”. “Gurinder Chadha has earned numerous accolades as well as critical acclaim for her poignant and uplifting depictions of Asian women.”

Gurinder is suitably tickled by the recognition of her cinema by British academia. “Can you believe it! I’m Dr Gurinder Chadha! I’m being honoured by a very presitigious university for my services to British cinema, and that feels good. And to think that Sheffield University has a very radical film school. Yeah, I guess, it’s quite something!” ? SKJ