DI Ray viewers saw a familiar face return to screens this week, as ITV ’s new crime drama stars Parminder Nagra of Bend It Like Beckham fame.
The 46-year-old actress shot to fame two decades ago after starring in the 2002 sports comedy.
Parminder, who was 26 at the time, played football loving Jess Bhamra, the teen girl who stood up to her conservative parents who forbade her to play the beautiful game.
Tearing up the rulebook, the low budget film made a staggering £60 million at the box office and is the highest-grossing sports film focusing on football.
Parminder became the first woman to win the FIFA Presidential Award, got to meet the former England captain, then landed herself the role of Neela Rasgotra in long-running US medical drama ER.
Most recently, she has appeared in Sky Atlantic thriller Fortitude and as the school counsellor in Netflix series 13 Reasons Why.
Now Parminder has been cast as the lead in new ITV drama DI Ray, a four-part series on Birmingham’s criminal underworld airing Monday to Thursday this week.
Produced by Jed Mercurio, the series sees police officer Rachita Ray taking on a case that forces her to confront a lifelong personal conflict between her British identity and her South Asian heritage.
After Monday night's debut episode, many ITV viewers celebrated seeing Parminder on their screens again.
Alongside an array of confused faced emojis, one person penned: "Watching Parminder Nagra and am struggling to comprehend that it’s been 20 years since Bend it Like Beckham."
Another chimed: "Twenty years have passed since Bend It Like Beckham and I can't believe we've seen very little of Parminder Nagra on British TV in that time."
A third wrote: "Great to see Bend It Like Beckham's Parminder Nagra in DI Ray. Have always thought she's a brilliant actor."
Ahead of the series debut, Parminder praised the “meaty” character of Rachita on the ITV show, saying: “To me it’s all about finding this woman's place in the world.”
She continued: “You don’t often have an Asian female lead on TV – it's starting to happen more, but having been in the business for so long, I feel like I've been saying the same thing for a long time.
“I can see the change with the likes of Bridgerton, but in DI Ray this is my generation of women, we’re in Birmingham and it’s so relatable – it's nice to play.
“That was the main appeal for me that I’m not playing the best friend of somebody or a secondary character, it’s all about Rachita.
“One day I’d love to play a character who isn't thinking about her identity – Bend It Like Beckham was about her identity too. But those parts are really hard to come by or don't get made very often.
“DI Ray is just so well-written, Rachita’s interactions with people are really great and I loved playing a strong 40-something woman on the show, helmed by these people and telling this story.”
DI Ray continues on ITV at 9pm on Tuesday, 3 May.
