Bride & Prejudice (2004)

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice gets a Bollywood treatment.

Director:

Gurinder Chadha

Writers:

Jane Austen (novel), Paul Mayeda Berges,

Stars:

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Martin Henderson, Nadira Babbar

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan	...	Lalita Bakshi (as Aishwarya Rai)
Martin Henderson	...	William Darcy
Nadira Babbar	...	Manorama Bakshi
Anupam Kher	...	Chaman Bakshi
Naveen Andrews	...	Balraj
Namrata Shirodkar	...	Jaya Bakshi
Daniel Gillies	...	Johnny Wickham
Indira Varma	...	Kiran
Sonali Kulkarni	...	Chandra Lamba
Nitin Ganatra	...	Mr. Kohli
Meghna Kothari	...	Maya Bakshi (as Meghnaa)
Peeya Rai Chowdhary	...	Lakhi Bakshi (as Peeya Rai Choudhuri)
Alexis Bledel	...	Georgina 'Georgie' Darcy
Marsha Mason	...	Catherine Darcy
Ashanti	...	Herself

Storyline

A Bollywood-style update of Jane Austen's classic tale, in which Mrs. Bakshi is eager to find suitable husbands for her four unmarried daughters. When the rich single gentlemen Balraj and Darcy come to visit, the Bakshis have high hopes, though circumstance and boorish opinions threaten to get in the way of romance.

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Plot Keywords:

travel | india | jane austen | england | bollywood | 

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Taglines:

Bollywood meets Hollywood... And it's a perfect match

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Musical | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

BIM Distribuzione [it] Miramax [us]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Hindi Panjabi Spanish

Release Date:

11 February 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bride and Prejudice: The Bollywood Musical

Filming Locations:

Amritsar, Punjab, India

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$783,222 (Australia) (18 February 2005)

Gross:

$6,601,079 (USA) (20 May 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pathé Pictures International, UK Film Council, Kintop Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min 111 min (International) 122 min (Hindi)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Among many other similarities between Pride and Prejudice and Bride and Prejudice is the obvious connections between names. Some of the parallel characters with similar/altered names are:Lalita = similar to Elizabeth Bennet's nickname, Lizzy; Jaya = Jane; Lahki = Lydia; Will Darcy = Fitzwilliam Darcy; Mr Kohli = Mr Collins. Wickham is still Wickham. Even Darcy's sister is named Georgie, as compared to Pride and Prejudice's Georgianna.

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Goofs

When Darcy and Lalilta are sitting in the Mexican restaurant while Lalita's family is in California, she has one sip of her margarita and places in on the table. When the camera switches to face Darcy, the drink is still visible as if in her hand.

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Quotes

Lalita Bakshi: Five star comfort with a bit of culture thrown in? Well, I don't want you to turn India into a theme park.

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Crazy Credits

Out-takes, behind the scenes footage and clips of the cast and crew singing along to the music are shown during the credits.

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Connections

Version of Lost in Austen

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Soundtracks

"Punjabi Wedding Song"
Composed by Anu Malik
Arranged by Ranjit Barot
Lyrics by Chaman Lal Chaman
(c) & (p) Pathé Fund Ltd 2004

User Reviews

Self-consciously cheesy, but good fun...

When I first started watching Bollywood flicks back in the day, I was always on my high horse (being a connoisseur of independent and foreign cinema that I am), and I was constantly berating these movies which always had seemingly trite plots, typical main characters, and a number of flaws spawning from lazy scriptwriting/editing. Over the years, though, I've continued watching it because I love the sound of the music and the way everything surreally breaks into song and dance -- no matter how ridiculous the music itself is.

What Gurinder Chadha has done here is create a very, very solid Bollywood movie. Unlike most Bollywood flicks, "Bride & Prejudice" has a solid script. I can't attest to the effectiveness of the film's adaptation of the novel, but I genuinely loved this movie enough to know that once it becomes available on DVD, I will go out and buy it. The songs are very typical, yes -- as are the dance routines, but that's all this is. I don't think Chadha was aiming to make a be-all, end-all of Bollywood movies to introduce the genre to Western audiences. Another note: everyone seems to comopare this to Chadha's previous flick -- "Bend it Like Beckham" -- the two are incomparable...it's like comparing apples and oranges. This is strictly lighthearted fare and succeeds at it.

The acting in the film supports the movie itself. That means that while nothing is exceptional acting, this movie is supposed to just be a feel-good romantic comedy and all the performances in the flick (especially Nadira Babbar's) contribute to that. The jokes -- while some are a bit tired -- deliver the laughs.

I also want to disagree with those who complain about the lack of chemistry between Rai and Henderson's characters because I think they work just fine; they're able to show the cultural clash well in the way their characters don't exactly sweep each other off their feet. And Rai needs to be commended for doing what few Bollywood actresses would do: giving up fame and fortune to try new acting prospects.

If you're looking for the apex of cinematic art, don't watch this flick, but if you're looking for a two-hour feel-good romp littered with bright colors and toe-tapping musical numbers, this is right up your alley. It gives us a break from the by-the-numbers romantic comedies that Hollywood's been churning out for so many years.

One last thing: this film is not Bollywood, but it is done in the style of Bollywood and perhaps that's why the self-conscious aspects of the movie also succeed. The large song and dance routines are a bit random, but then also become part of the backdrop for larger events of the movie to take place.

All in all, Chadha's made another great flick! Go check it out if you can!