'Bend It Like Beckham' director Gurinder Chadha, 55, has been hanging out with former One Direction member Zayn Malik after recently telling the media that she hopes to give him a film role in the future.  

Last night (April 28), she shared a photograph of herself posing with Malik and accompanied the snapshot with the following caption: "This lovely young man is coming to see @BendItMusical, I'm going to sneak him in. so happy to c him happy!"

Speaking to press at the recent Asian Awards in London, Gurinder explained that she hopes to work with the heartthrob in the future as he has a background in acting and she thinks he'd be great on screen:

“We’ve met and spoken. He trained as an actor first then became part of the band. So I think what he’ll be doing is staying true to his heart – and that’s all you can ever do. I don’t have a part in mind for Zayn just yet but hopefully in the future.”

Malik, meanwhile, recently came in joint second place with the other One Direction boys on the Sunday Times Top 20 Richest Musicians Under 30 with an estimated fortune of £25 million. 

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Watch a promotional video for the 'Bend It Like Beckham' musical, which is showing now, here: