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BRIDE
AND PREJUDICE
Running time: 111 mins
 Starring:
Aishwarya Rai, Martn Henderson, Daniel Gillies, Nitin
Genatra, Naveen Andrews
Like a
supermarket's own-brand curry sauce, Bride and Prejudice
tries to please everyone, but ultimately is not as good as
the real thing. This Indian reworking of Jane Austen's
classic novel follows many of the conventions of the
Bollywood style, but the attempts to cross over and please
Western audiences are only partly successful. It also signals
time for a worldwide embargo on Indian films where the main
theme is marrying off children against their will, as it's a
theme that is now well past its sell-by date.
After the huge and deserved international success of Bend It
Like Beckham, director and co-writer Gurinder Chadha
transposes a classic British romance to modern day India. The
Bakshi family of Amritsar is desperate to marry off its four
daughters, notably the eldest and most beautiful Lalita (Aishwarya
Rai). But, like Austen's Elizabeth Bennet, Lalita is as
outspoken as she is beautiful, and most of the men presented
to her find her too presumptuous to be considered as a
spouse.
When Mr Balraj (Naveen Andrews) appears in town to woo her
sister, things begin to look up as he brings one Mr Darcy
(Martin Henderson) with him. But Darcy turns out to be a
prig, unlike his nemesis Wickham (Daniel Gillies), who Lalita
begins to fall for. Comic relief is provided by Kholi (Nitin
Genatra), who arrives from America to claim a bride but soon
outstays his welcome.
The script stretches believability in several places, but
this can almost be forgiven as the film is a flight of fancy
with an ending that is never in doubt. More worrying,
however, is the Bollywood factor, which seems to reduce
everything to a lowest common denominator. The humour here is
broader than broad: if you're looking for sophisticated
laughs then you're in the wrong place. The rigid adherence to
the Bollywood code forces the audience to sit through several
songs, some of which work, and most of which are painful.
Naturally the ensemble pieces feature street urchins with
brightly coloured costumes and perma-smiles.
In other words, it's formulaic stuff, and many viewers
familiar with the Indian style of cinema will soon tire.
Casting appears to have been chosen on looks alone, with
little sight of any discernible acting talent from the
romantic leads (the two females were former Miss Indias), and
a severe case of over-acting from the comic buffoon. If you
want to catch more authentic views of the now jaded family
marriage crisis scenarios, you're better off renting Damien
O' Donnell's excellent East is East or Mira Nair's absorbing
Monsoon Wedding.
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