Director joins elite rich list

For many - and you didn't need to be a football fan - it was the hit movie of last year.

Bend It Like Beckham made actresses Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightly stars overnight and elevated the film's director, Gurinder Chadha, to the ranks of the UK's wealthiest Asians.

Ms Chadha now joins actress and comedienne Meera Syal on the Asian Xpress Rich List for the first time, each being valued at £4million.

Bend It Like Beckham pulled in more than £11million at the British box office - the most ever for a British-financed and distributed film. Ms Chadha, from Southall, began her career as a BBC news reporter before going into films.

Ms Syal's life is a typical ragstoriches tale. Growing up in the Midlands "on the bottom of the social pile", she closely followed the advice of her father who said: "Whatever you do, be bloody good at it - better than the white person next to you." She now moves effortlessly between her roles as a renowned writer, playwright, top comedienne and successful actress.

Ms Syal lives in east London and her career demonstrates the huge impact Asians have had on popular culture in recent years. A total of 21 women feature on the list, revealing their growing power in the Asian business community. Five are listed in their own right while 16 appear with their partners or members of their family. In a list of 300, Ms Chadha and Ms Syal make 286th place.

Curry queens Meena Pathak and Perween Warsi both suffered heavy losses in net wealth over the past year, but maintain equal positions at number 59 and a valuation of £25million each.

Pathak Spices is the one of the most recognised food brands in the UK, and Perween Warsi founded S&A foods - which mass-produces ready meals for retail - when she could not find decent samosas in her local supermarket.

Dispelling the stereotype of the dutiful, housebound wife, Asian women are taking an active part in business, according to Dr Philip Beresford who compiled the Asian Xpress Rich List. He believes the future belongs to women and to second and third generation Asians who will take family businesses in new directions.

The Indian steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, involved in the "cash-forfavours row" last year, is still the richest Asian in Britain with £1.31billion according to the list, whose 300 millionaires have a combined wealth of £8.9 billion.

This year's runners-up are the Jatania brothers who are valued at £570 million, due largely to the flotation of their joint venture company EPIC Brand Investments. The family secured a net gain of £22 million over the past year.

The infamous Hinduja brothers were in the number two slot last year but Dr Beresford decided to exclude them from the new list. This will "probably infuriate them" he said, but added that he left them out partly due to their secretive nature, which he claimed makes it very difficult to assess their assets. The brothers, who were at the heart of the "cash-forpassports" scandal, have also moved most of their interests back to India.

Sarwar Ahmed, publisher of the list, said: "The determination and hard work of these businessmen and women shows that no amount of racism, terror or political turmoil can deter them from the path they have clearly forged for themselves." Dr Beresford claimed Asians make huge sacrifices and see themselves as custodians of the business to be handed on to future generations. He added that this attitude is very different to that of some UK businessmen and women who, if offered a good price for their business, are very likely to take the money and run.