Her film revolving around a desi wedding was in the works long before My Big Fat Greek Wedding hit America and grossed $250 million. Director Gurinder Chadha says she 'is very pleased' that in trade circles, her film Bend It Like Beckham, is being compared with the Greek-American behemoth.

'Now that My Big Fat Greek Wedding has shown how much mainstream business so-called ethnic films do, it is important we come up more with well-written, well-made films,' says the director.

She is confident that her film, which cost about $5 million and has already grossed about $50 million, could end its run with $100 million worldwide.

Enjoying yet another solid week in limited release -- the film released on March 12 in the US -- the comic melodrama grossed $1.17 million over the weekend, having added 71 theatres to 117 in about 20 North American cities.

The movie, which shot into the top 20 last week,  is now at 15th position. It had a strong $10,043 per screen average over the weekend, grossed about $2.5 million in four weeks, and is adding 26 more theatres next week. Several more expansions are planned.

'Word of mouth is very important for a film like this in America,' Chadha said in a recent interview. Across the UK, it was another story, she says, adding the movie had opened on nearly 400 screens, raced to the top position on the box-office chart and gone to earn about $18 million.

'There could be as big a market here [in the US] too,' Chadha who has homes in London and Los Angeles, continues. 'But it is also very critical to this movie's success that our people see it in the theatres.' Aware of the widespread video piracy of the movie, she adds that seeing the film on the big screen had its own appeal.

Bend It Like Beckham will have to beat Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding which, in three months, grossed about $14 million. The Guru, the other movie with the desi theme, was looking for a $4 million gross a few weeks ago, but following sharp attrition, it exited with barely $3 million.

Chadha also feels her movie is resistant to negative reviews. Reviews were far from glowing in England. In America, though The New York Times called it cliché-ridden, it got good reviews in the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Entertainment Weekly.

'A feel-good movie that actually makes you feel good,' said the Los Angeles Times but The New York Times felt 'if Chadha's direction was as compulsive as the writing, Bend It Like Beckham might have been a tighter, funnier, and above all, shorter.'

Chadha says the movie, which has done at least $1 million business in major European countries, could have a steady expansion across America -- and a solid run in Latin America too.

Video piracy would certainly hit the movie when it goes into DVD and video release about nine months from now. In countries like Australia, where it played in the top five bracket for several weeks, it is expected to be a major DVD and video item.