MUMBAI:

Britain-based Indian filmmaker Gurinder Chadha of Bend It Like Beckham fame is in the family way and says she has shelved her next film Dallas to prepare for the arrival of her twins.

The expected date of delivery is July 20. “I’m pregnant! I’m expecting twins this summer,” Chadha said.

The 47-year-old, who is married to filmmaker Paul Mayeda Berges, never seemed happier. “And rightly so because no film experience can compare with this. In fact I’ve put my big project Dallas on hold until the babies come,” she exulted.

Naturally, Chadha is doubly excited about the twins. “You know I’m not one to do things by halves,” she joked. “But twins always arrive early. So I expect I’ll be a mom by mid-June,” she added.

Talking about the names, she said, “I told Aishwarya Rai that if I’ve a boy and a girl I’ll call them Ash and Abhishek. It’s a joke, of course. My husband Paul and I haven’t thought of names for our twins.”

As for Dallas, Chadha is still very excited about returning to the project after her pregnancy. “I had to pull out of the project.

But the producers insisted that they want me to do it. I’m still very excited about

it. The re-write of the script is on. In the meanwhile, I may do a smaller project which I’ll cast and prepare before summer and then shoot in autumn after my maternity leave.”