Gurinder Kaur Chadha, OBE (born 10 January 1960)[1] is a Kenyan-born British film director of Indian origin.

The common theme in her work showcases the trials of Indian women residing in the UK and how they must reconcile their converging traditional and modern cultures.

She is best known for the films Bhaji on the Beach (1993), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Bride and Prejudice (2004), Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008), It's a Wonderful Afterlife (2010) and Viceroy's House (2017).

[2] Bhajan, her father (who died in 1999), and her mother were both born in Kenya, and remained there until the political turbulence leading up to independence prompted the family to relocate.

Her family held "united citizenship" under the British Nationality Act 1948 which granted them rights of entry and settlement in Britain.

Her father had worked as a clerical officer in Barclays Bank in Kenya but was unable to secure the same position due to his appearance.

[5] Many of her future films would draw on her personal experience of being Indian and English at the same time, and how she dealt with the duality of her identity.

In her mind, having all the women in the kitchen cooking while the men sat and ate was oppressive, although it is a living part of Indian culture.

Chadha utilizes subtlety and nuances in dialogue and fashion in order to relay the fact that these women come from a very specific culture.

Prejudice comes from both outside and inside the British-Indian community; white men treat the immigrants as garbage, while the older generation of Indian women judge the modern woman is challenged by the progressive views of the younger women, as they try to break free from the "oppression" that Chadha fought hard to break free from herself.

The film was low budget, but received critical success for its take on racial stereotypes, immigration, and gender roles.

Bend it Like Beckham was the highest grossing British-financed, British-distributed film, ever in the UK box-office (prior to the success of Slumdog Millionaire).

Although marketed to the United States as a "chick flick", it is regarded in Britain as an important post-feminist film that fits perfectly into the British progressive frame of 2002.

In 2015, Chada mounted the stage musical version of Bend it Like Beckham in London's West End to 5-Star Reviews & critics' awards.

[16] She wrote the screenplay for The Mistress of Spices (2005), based upon the novel of the same name by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, with Berges, who directed the film.

Although the BBC had confirmed that Chadha was to direct the forthcoming feature film adaptation of the television series Dallas,[17] she left the project in 2007.

[18] In 2011, Chadha was announced to be collaborating with composer A. R. Rahman and lyricist Stephen Schwartz on DreamWorks Animation's first musical set in India.

Reportedly, the Bollywood-style animated musical is set in Mumbai and revolves around two monkeys who try to stop an ancient demon from conquering the world.

The film will reportedly tell the story of Bodhi, a young Indian elephant from the jungles of Kerala with an impossible dream – to be a Bollywood dancer.

At a 2017 Bird's Eye View event at Sands Films in London, Chadha stressed the importance of actively supporting female filmmakers at the cinema, especially on the opening weekend.

[31] She is an active patron of numerous charities including MAF (Medical Aid Films) is a Creative Mentor and Role Model for Creative Access, Directors UK Inspire, the BFI and the Sundance Directors' Lab, and Patron of Women in Film U.K.[13] With regard to her religious beliefs, Chadha told the BBC in an October 2014 interview: For most of my life I've been saying no to that question.