Bride and Prejudice
The exotic sounds, vibrant colors, and ecstatic dancing of Bollywood collide with the cunning storytelling of Jane Austen in
Bride & Prejudice
(from the writer/director of previous East/West hybrid
Bend It Like Beckham
). When smart, outspoken Lalita Bakshi (Indian beauty Aishwarya Rai) meets Will Darcy (Martin Henderson,
The Ring
), she finds this American businessman arrogant and conceited--but because his best friend is falling in love with her sister, Lalita agrees to travel around India with Darcy. On the trip, a childhood friend of Darcy's named Johnny (Daniel Gillies,
Spider-Man 2
) both tickles Lalita's fancy and confirms her worst suspicions about Darcy. But as events unfold, Lalita wonders if she hasn't misjudged Darcy--and Johnny. Austen fans will be find much to criticize;
Bride & Prejudice
transplants the basic plot of
Pride & Prejudice
to modern India, but not much of Austen's sly wit or her insights about character and society have survived the translation. Henderson, though handsome, lacks the intimidating charisma of previous Mr. Darcys (including Laurence Olivier and Colin Firth). Thank goodness for the delightful Rai, here making her first all-English-language movie. She commands the screen like a true star (unsurprisingly, she's hugely popular in India, and previously starred in a more homegrown Austen adaptation:
I Have Found It
, based on
Sense & Sensibility
). For Western audiences unfamiliar with the freewheeling exuberance of Indian movies--wild musical numbers can break out at almost any moment--
Bride & Prejudice
offers an engaging taste of this fantastic cinematic style.
--Bret Fetzer
| uuid: |
32D5AA34-5053-47C4-ACB5-6A891BDAA8F1 |
| upc: |
0786936278330 |
| title: |
Bride and Prejudice |
| theatricalDate: |
11-02-2005 |
| stars: |
Naveen Andrews
Ashanti (II)
Nadira Babbar
Alexis Bledel
Georgina Chapman
Peeya Rai Chowdhary
Nitin Chandra Ganatra
Shivani Ghai
Daniel Gillies
Martin Henderson
Anupam Kher
Meghna Kothari
Sonali Kulkarni
Marsha Mason
Mellan Mitchell
Aishwarya Rai
Namrata Shirodkar
Indira Varma
Harvey Virdi |
| purchase date: |
23-10-2006 |
| publisher: |
Miramax Home Entertainment |
| published: |
05-07-2005 |
| price: |
$14.99 |
| net Rating: |
4 |
| MPAA Rating: |
PG-13 |
| minutes: |
111 |
| last lookup time: |
183297456 |
| genre: |
Romance
Comedy
Drama
Music & Musicals |
| fullTitle: |
Bride and Prejudice |
| features: |
Closed-captioned
Color
Dolby
Widescreen
NTSC
2.35:1 |
| currentValue: |
$6.50 |
| created: |
183297424 |
| country: |
us |
| aspect: |
DVD |
| asin: |
B00094AS9U
|
