OCT 10: We doubt Jane Austen had the phrase
“no life without wife” in mind when she wrote Pride And Prejudice.
When you see Gurinder Chadha’s adaptation of the classic novel, you
are unlikely to have Jane Austen in mind.
The film immediately stamps itself “Bollywood” when it starts with a
wedding in Amritsar.
The family Bakshi is getting set to enjoy the bhangra and Mrs Bakshi (Nadira
Babbar) is preparing to parade her daughters (she has four) for the
eyes of British bachelor Balraj (Naveen Andrews).
Eyes meet across a crowded room: Jaya’s (Namrata Shirodkar) with
Balraj’s and Lalita’s (Aishwarya Rai) with William Darcy’s (Martin
Henderson), the American millionaire with a disdain for India.
Shift location to Goa, where the courtship between the first couple
hots up while cold war breaks out between the second. The learned
Lalita’s sensibilities are offended by Darcy’s prejudices.
The return to Amritsar offers some of the best moments of the film —
the arrival of suitor NRI Kohli (Nitin Ganatra is hilarious) from
Amrika and the garba party (beautifully designed and shot).
Add on those frequent flyer miles as the action moves to London, Los
Angeles, back to London and finally to Amritsar.
On the world tour, there’s heartbreak, rejection, jealousy, revelation
romance and the ultimate reconciliation.
These are peppered with disappointing songs with cheesy English lyrics
sung in a mix of accents.
Another inconsistency is the Bakshi family. For all their talk of
Warhol, Pollock and neo-imperialism and their father’s open-mindedness
in allowing a random backpacker to stay in their house, the girls
still await proposals and tolerate their mother’s unashamed
auctioning.
Lalita’s ‘intellectualism’ is easily swept away by a backpacker
mouthing platitudes about India that sound like they’ve come straight
out of a Lonely Planet book.
But still there’s enough to balle balle about here, especially Namrata
Shirodkar (who steals the thunder from Ash in every frame they share),
Nadira Babbar, Nitin Ganatra and Meghna Kothari (who makes her mark
with her nagin number).
Santosh Sivan’s cinematography adds lustre to
Chadha’s tribute to the musicals she has grown up on.
Martin Henderson deserves points for being sporting enough to do the
garba, but he lacks the arrogance associated with Jane Austen
protagonists.
And then there’s Ash. We wonder — how does she expect to make a career
in the west? Bollywood may accept hamming and dress up our actors to
distract from talent, but the west is not as charitable. Ash has the
challenge of Bollywood unlearning ahead of her.
Hats off to Chadha for pulling of a film of this scale (with actors
from three continents).
And for infusing a potentially dated story with bursts of humour.
While her earlier work, Bend It Like Beckham, still scores higher,
Bride & Prejudice is quite an enjoyable trip!
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The return to Amritsar offers some of the best moments of the film —
the arrival of suitor NRI Kohli (Nitin Ganatra is hilarious) from
Amrika and the garba party (beautifully designed and shot). 
Santosh Sivan’s cinematography adds lustre to
Chadha’s tribute to the musicals she has grown up on. 