Bend It Like Beckham director has twins at 47

Gurinder Chadha is said to be recovering well after the arrival of the healthy baby boy and girl at University College Hospital yesterday afternoon.

Her husband, American Paul Berges, and her 80-year-old mother, Balwant, have been at her bedside since she returned to London from her Los Angeles home to give birth.

The twins had been due next month but in an interview in February, the first-time mother correctly predicted they would arrive early.

"It's twins - there's lots of twins in my family. Paul and I have been married for 10 years so we're thrilled. It's been very hard to plan as we've been so busy. The babies are due in July, but twins always come early," she said.

Bafta-nominated Chadha, who received an OBE this year, has been taking a break from her current project - a big-budget Hollywood remake of Dallas, the Eighties television show, starring John Travolta and Jennifer Lopez.

Chadha and Berges, who is a co-writer on her films, divide their time between their Soho apartment and the US, where she is also lined up to direct a movie version of the Sixties TV comedy I Dream Of Jeannie.

Born in Kenya, Chadha moved to Southall, west London, as a child. Her parents owned a series of corner shops and Chadha went on to complete a development studies degree at the University of East Anglia.

Beginning her career in journalism, she worked as a reporter for BBC radio but decided to go into film-making, setting up the Umbi production company. Her first work was a short TV documentary called I'm British But... in 1990.

She made her breakthrough in 1993 with Bhaji On The Beach, a comedy about a group of Indian women on a day-trip to Blackpool, which she co-wrote with friend Meera Syal.

Chadha scored her biggest hit in 2002 with Bend It Like Beckham. The film made stars of Pirates Of The Caribbean actress Keira Knightley and ER's Parminder Nagra and became one of the biggest success stories in British film.

Bride And Prejudice, a Bollywood version of Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice, followed in 2004.

Chadha has also been linked to a new British comedy about teenage angst. The movie is set to be based on the first of a series of popular novels by Louise Rennison called Angus, Thongs And Full Frontal Snogging.