BRIDE AND PREJUDICE (2004)
Starring: Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, Naveen Andrews, Namrata Shirodkar, Indira Varma, Nadira Babbar, Anupam Kher, Meghna Kothari, Peeya Rai Chowdhry, Nitin Chandra Ganatra, Sonali Kulkarni and Ashanti
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Cinematography: Santosh Sivan
Music: Anu Malik
Lyrics: Farhan and Zoya Akhtar
RS RATING: 6.5/10
‘Bride and Prejudice’ received plenty of attention following its launch last year. This is hardly surprising considering the adaptation of Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice is directed by Gurinder Chadha, who gained International box office success with ‘Bend It Like Beckham’. The acclaimed British Asian filmmaker has daringly transferred the classic characters from the novel into a Bollywood setting, complete with regular song-and-dance routines, beautiful locales and over-the-top performances.
Mr. and Mrs. Bakshi (Anupam Kher and Nadira Babbar) are the proud parents of four beautiful daughters. The rather dominating Mrs. Bakshi becomes completely preoccupied with finding suitable partners for each girl, starting with the eldest, Jaya (Namrata Shirodkar). News soon spreads about an eligible bachelor, Mr. Balraj (Naveen Andrews) arriving from London for a local wedding. Whilst Mrs. Bakshi rejoices at this wonderful opportunity, she faces stiff competition from a surprising number of fellow mothers with similar motives! Luckily Mr. Balraj ignores the others and becomes immediately smitten by Jaya. The instant attractions continue when Mr. Balraj’s good friend Will Darcy (Martin Henderson) who spots Jaya’s sister Lalita (Aishwarya Rai). His good looks and charm initially attract Lalita, although one or two conversations later, she decides he’s arrogant and snobbish. Fate keeps bringing the two together but their apparent pride and prejudice continue to pull them apart. During this process Lalita meets a couple of other suitors, including the conniving Mr. Wickham (Daniel Gillies) and a hilariously terrible American Desi (Nitin Ganatra). Its selection time and Lalita faces increasing pressure to pick her groom.
Gurinder Chadha is the captain of the ship and does an admirable job. She handles the story well and effectively uses stereotypes without going overboard. However the film fails to delve too deeply into the characters and leaves a lot unexplained. This makes it a little harder to truly relate to the characters. Gurinder does score extra points for showing a more real India rather than the fairy tale palaces often used by Bollywood. However the country’s beauty still shines in the film. There’s no denying a large number of scenes in Bride and Prejudice look absolutely stunning. The cinematography is fantastic and Santosh Sivan once again excels.
Aishwarya Rai does a great job as the female lead. This isn’t quite a break-through performance, but the Bollywood superstar should certainly get noticed on a more global level now. Despite the weaknesses in the personality of her character, Aishwarya manages to make Lalita very likable. She breathes life into the character and some of Aishwarya’s facial expressions (particularly during emotional scenes) are impressive - the reaction shot during Chanda's (Sonali Kulkarni) wedding is first rate! Martin Henderson is adequate. He does a decent job and his performance is sound, although he won’t have the critics raving. Namrata Shirodkar does well although her role doesn’t demand huge amounts. Meghna Kothari was almost forgettable – until her entertaining nagin-style snake dance, which raises quite a few smiles! Peeya Rai Chowdhry is natural in front of the camera although she doesn’t get too much scope. As the Bakshi parents, Nadira Babbar has a much, much better role compared to Anupam Kher. She does a great job too and provides plenty of humour. Poor old Anupam Kher is hardly around. From the remaining cast, Indira Varma and Nitin Ganatra are particularly good and the rest offer able support.
‘Bride and Prejudice’ gives a friendly nod to Bollywood by featuring a number of song-and-dance routines. The visuals of the songs look fantastic. The actual compositions by Anu Malik are quite decent too. However the effort falls flat for a couple of reasons. Some of the songs negatively affect the narrative’s smooth flow and aren’t needed. Also the English lyrics by Farhan and Zoya Akhtar are pretty terrible. They’re cliched, lame and simply don’t work. Whilst the song and dance routines might be more acceptable to the Bollywood audience, how will others react? On a more positive note, Ashanti’s item number is quite fun! The American singing sensation looks sexy and the visuals for her special appearance are great. She tries her best with the Hindi lyrics but struggles. It’s sometimes hard to understand what she’s saying but top marks for effort!
It’s pretty hard to predict the reaction Bride and Prejudice will receive following its release. The movie is likeable and should have most of the audience leaving cinemas with a smile. However the film is simply not outstanding and the flaws cannot be ignored, which means those with sky-high expectations could feel some disappointment.
Please note the Bride and Prejudice screening in London was not the final cut.
Reviewed by: Robeel Haq
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