From Bhatinda to Brimingham is an arduous journey. The journey is the stuff of dreams and nightmares. It is for the last decade or two a journey that has spawned a genre of serious and successful literature and cinema. Bend it like Beckham is an exciting addition to that growing genre which in terms of pure creativity threatens to outsmart the homegrown varieties of writing at least, if not cinema.

The Bhatinda-Birmingham (or Aloo Gobi--Fish n'chips if you may) clash of civilisations can never be resolved. Gurindar Chadha (Bhaji on the Beach) too takes on the theme which she threatens to resolve with some cross-generational spiel but then changes her mind and lets the two teenaged protagonists escape on a soccer scholarship to the United States, another haven, leaving Batinda even further behind. For the next nostaliga-sticken immigant to take up and bandy about in angst or joy or whatever.

Throughout the film though there is that lingering hope that Beckham is the right mid-fielder to merge these two conflciting themes together. Beckham does his bit. He can't be blamed. But unfortunately he does not seem to have the feet to bend it past the robust wall of tradition which stands sturdy against any onslaught from the "goras" or the desi-goras.

Oh yes, soccer works well as a metaphor to take this familiar story along. This daughter of Punjabi immigrants loves soccer and plays it well too, finally giving us hope that Indians too can bend it past the wall. She floats her feet over the ball like some miniature version of Ronaldinho ( Bhaichung Bhutia are you listening?) and is the star of the team. Which is all not good news for the Aloo Gobi school of thought and the Indo-Canadian Parminder Nagra who plays the difficult role of Jaswinder with aplomb, is put through the dryer. Her sister of course gets married to a good Punjabi boy with the clipped accent so it's additional pressure on Jas to leave modernity behind and hug tradition and get married.

Jas hugs both in a way and the scene of resolution happens in the car when she is driven by the Punjabi boy who courts her, from the marriage pandal to the football finals. Jas' father lets her go off in the hope that on the big day at least she will have a smile on her face. In the back seat of the car she changes from her blood red silk saree to the football jersey and shorts. She reaches amid way through the finals and of course scores the winner.

The back set of the car here is crucial because that is where the traditions are left behind. Jas sister does it in the car with her fiance. Doesn't matter she is disturbed by a call from her mother who slams her forehead everytime the Aloo Gobi scenario is under threat. The car seat is nice and cosy for traditional values to be left behind, and the sarees to be ripped off and cast asunder. Maybe there's a hint in the ease with which Jas rips off the gaudy red silk saree to put on her soccer jersey: Is Aloo gobi losing out?

Chadha said recently in the British press how she took her father back to Punjab to visit the places he left behind many years ago. Bend it like Beckham shows, that Chadha too tries to grasp Bhatinda. She has to come to Punjab. For emotional nourishment, for inspiration, if not for aloo gobi .

There is an undertone of sexuality running through the movie, which is expected when there are a lot of women who try to play soccer. Good dressing room banter and flashing of bras. Come on, how can Asians ask for more than shorts and bra scenes? Homages to Punjabi libido, Chadha decides can be paid elsewhere. There are a lot of things to be resolved, isn't it?