Bride and Prejudice Reviews

• No Life Without Wife

  
  By A2QHM5HBSIXRL4 on 2005-02-14
  It appears Gurinder Chadha is going to suffer for a while from the "Bend It" problem: every movie she makes, people are going to tsk-tsk and say "it's not as good as 'Bend It Like Beckham.'" Well, honestly,how are you going to top that? It's too bad that many people aren't going to allow 'Bride and Prejudice' to stand on its own merits. That includes most mainstream reviewers who have generally been lukewarm about it. For many people though, 'Bride' will be an introduction to the Bollywood Musical genre and - for that reason alone - it's a can't miss. Far from being lukewarm, I was in stiches throughout most of the movie.
  
  It's a brilliant set-up by Chadha and husband/writing partner Paul Mayeda Berges, finding and drawing the parallels between Jane Austen's 1813 novel and the small-town India of today. In both cases, a woman is considered meaningless until she marries.
  
  There are brilliant Bollywood productions in blazes of color, most notably "Balle Balle (Punjabi Wedding Song)," which hits you like a thunderstorm within the first 10 minutes of the movie, and the hilarious "No Life Without Wife" (and for those of you who have seen the movie, I did Mr. Kholi's little gesture with my hand when I wrote that).
  
  In 'Bride,' you grasp right away why Aishwarya Rai has transfixed a nation. With wide-set eyes that seem six inches in diameter, you look at the set pieces that have 50 - 100+ on screen at once and immediately spot her as the standout. Even for the uninitiated, it's going to take five seconds or less to pick her out as the star.
  
  I also have to note Nitin Chandra Ganatra as Kholi. This guy is a real comedic talent. Here he portrays the Indian off to America ("A-Merka" as he calls it) and made good. Now, he's back to his home town to claim a bride. This guy not only gets all the great lines, he delivers them *perfectly*. "This is my crib. It's all good" he says, showing guests around his house. Trust me, it's all in the delivery. What I like about the movie is Kholi turns out to be a really good guy. Maybe a bit too rabid in his pursuit, but a wonderful soul at heart.
  
  Fans of 'Bend It' will note that Anupam Kher, as Rai's dad 'Mr. Bakshi,' was Jess' dad 'Mr. Bharma' in 'Beckham.' This is one classy actor and a regal presence on the screen.
  
  

• Brilliantly Clever at All Levels--Remakes US View of India

  
  By A1S8AJIUIO6M9K on 2005-07-19
  
  This movie is so extraordinarily clever, at all levels, that I have watched it twice with undivided attention, and have it playing on background now. It does nothing less than remake US views of India. As I read the full page advertisements in the Washington Post saluting the visit of the Indian Prime Minister, and reading about the White House agreeing to sponsor nuclear information exchanges while India sponsors a second green revolution, I cannot help but think that this movie, in a unique way, captures both the beauty of India, and its arrival as a world power equal to the US.
  
  I spend a lot of time thinking about both reality and perception. The US has blown it when it comes to the billions of poor--not just the Arab fundamentalists, but the non-violent individuals who see us occupying their countries and looting their natural resources. If America could produce a movie like this, one that reflected the best of America, the ideals of the original Republic, it would have more of an impact than the billions of dollars we are spending on a heavy-metal military.
  
  This movie is extraordinary. It is brilliant. It is worth buying, viewing multiple times, and as a gift idea.
  
  

• When Bollywood meets Hollywood

  
  By A37PV5GMP2ILJC on 2006-04-17
  When Bollywood meets Hollywood
  There’s bound to be some sparks
  And for this take on Jane Austen
  I give almost full marks
  
  The story line is much the same
  Except a little shorter
  The noisy Bakshi family
  Is short a Bennet daughter
  
  Henderson’s no Colin Firth
  He’s just a little bland
  They could have found a better bloke
  To take Lalita’s hand
  
  The Bingley siblings caught my eye
  I’ve seen them both before
  He was her Kama Sutra guy
  And now he’s “Lost” no more
  
  The ending’s changed up quite a bit
  This version’s changed the terms
  Singing, dancing, Indian style
  And riding pachyderms
  
  A lively, funny musical
  Though not for everyone
  It’s almost Pride and Prejudice
  But a hundred times more fun
  
  
  
  Amanda Richards, April 16, 2006
  
  
  

• Jane Austen meets Bollywood and it's a gem of a film!!

  
  By A2X9AXCWH4MT4I on 2005-04-10
  What drew me to "Bride and Prejudice", first and foremost, was that this promised to be a modern day, Bollywood version of Jane Austen's beloved novel "Pride and Prejudice." As a fervent Austen fan, I knew I just couldn't pass this movie up. Secondly, it is directed by Gurinder Chadha whose previous film "Bend It Like Beckham" is one of my favorite feel-good movies ever.
  
  I had never been exposed to Bollywood filmmaking before this movie. The closest thing I ever got to Indian culture is the food (which I love), Chadha's "Bend It..." film and an earlier viewing of "Monsoon Wedding." I had no idea what to expect. The lively and vibrant songs and dances, beautiful and colorful costumes, memorable and endearing characters, and faithful re-telling of Austen's novel that makes up "Bride and Prejudice" just caught me by surprise.
  
  And what a ride it has been! Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges did an excellent job of following Jane Austen's storyline; that of a middle class family (the Bakshi = Bennets) in a relatively small town (Meryton, England = Amritsar, India) and the mother's struggle to marry off her daughters (the book had 5, the film has 4 as Mary and Kitty's characters are combined into the sitar-playing, cobra-dancing 3rd sister Maya). The film begins as the Bakshi (Bennet) family attends a wedding party and everyone is abuzz when the wealthy barrister Mr. Balraj ("Lost's" Naveen Andrews) shows up with his elegant and fashionable sister Kiran (Indira Varma) and American hotelier/best friend Will Darcy (the gorgeous Martin Henderson). Balraj falls instantly for beautiful eldest sister Jaya (Namrata Shirodkar). Will slights the outspoken and spirited 2nd sister Lalita (Aishwarya Rai) by his careless comments about her hometown ("Hicksville, India"?) and she immediately takes a dislike to his arrogant, close-minded ways. At the beach resort in Goa, Lalita meets the free-spirited Johnny Wickham (Daniel Gillies) and is immediately attracted to him. She slowly learns, however, that Wickham is not what he seems. It also becomes clear that youngest sister Lakhi (Peeya Rai Choudhary) also fancies the charming Wickham. In the meantime, a distant relative, Mr. Kohli (Nitin Ganatra) comes to visit the Bakshi family with the intent of finding a wife. Mrs. Bakshi immediately pairs him up to Lalita, much to her chagrin and displeasure. After all, Lalita means to marry for love and the cocky, goofy and self-absorbed Mr. Kohli (the scene- stealing role) is far from her idea of the 'ideal man'. Events take Lalita and her family to London and then Los Angeles where circumstances throw her and Will Darcy together. In LA, Lalita meets Will's mother, Catherine (Marsha Mason), and younger sister Georgina (Alexis Bledel). Lalita soon realizes that she may have misjudged Will and a romance blossoms between them. However, revelations come into the surface that threaten to tear the Will and Lalita apart. Those familiar with Jane Austen's book will know how it all ends, of course. Those who don't will have to see this film to find out!
  
  After seeing B&P, I have come to develop a deeper interest and appreciation for Indian culture. The fantastic choreography in dance sequences like "Balle Balle" and "Dola Dola" are vibrant and mesmerizing. The costumes are nothing short of dazzling. I don't think I've ever seen as many beautiful women as I have in this film. Aishwarya Rai and Martin Henderson have a chemistry that makes their attraction entirely plausible. They are a pleasure to watch. I came out of the movie theater with a big smile on my face and found myself humming the songs for days. I admit that there are some scenes that border on silly or cheesy but this film never really does take itself seriously. At the end of the day, it is a film that is meant to be fun and entertaining. I have since seen "Bride and Prejudice" 3x and can't wait for the dvd!! "Bride and Prejudice" is a joyful and intoxicating movie experience and, as Mr. Kohli says, "I'd happily get drunk on it!!!!"
  
  

• Absolutely Loved it!

  
  By AKHJVOYEX6QME on 2005-11-01
  Rented this the other night and was completely blown away. I knew the general idea of the movie-Pride & Prejudice + 21st Century India + Bollywood--but had not seen either any other Bollywood style movie or Gurinder Chadha's big hit, Bend it Like Beckham.
  
  I absolutely loved this movie, nearly everything about it from the music and dancing in the musical numbers (which break out at random intervals) to the acting to the intertwining stories of romance and heartbreak. Standout actors were the incredible Aishwarya Rai (Lalita) and the comic relief of Nitin Ganatra as Mr. Kholi, the gauche returnee from America shopping for a bride.
  
  It was also lovely to see Naveen Andrews outside of "Lost" and just wish there could have been a bit more of him and his storyline with Lalita's sister.
  
  The movie is in English but sometimes when the speech gets rolling quickly, the accents can make a scene a bit hard to follow, but since I want to watch this movie again and again I will get it all eventually. Or you can do what I do sometimes when I have trouble following thick Aussie or British accents on a DVD--turn on the subtitles.
  
  For someone like me unfamiliar with Bollywood and the amazingly beautiful AND talented Aishwarya Rai, this is a great introduction to both, and like me, I'll bet that you will want to see more of both. The exuberant music and dancing are what stayed with me the most from this movie, and I think that queuing up the opening wedding dance scene or the "No Life Without Wife" number will cheer me up on any grumpy day.
  
  This movie is a keeper for me--I'm buying both the DVD and the soundtrack.
  
  
• Cultural Clash, Romantic Conundrum, Colorful Musical
  By A2SRZQU1SZG4RR on 2007-07-18
  Gurinder Chadha produces a fantastic film with a new twist to the classical conundrum: how does an independent minded female connect with the opposite sex? Jane Austen could never in her wildest dreams imagine the outstanding Bollywood like dance and music numbers which make this film such a delightful viewing experience. Ashanti does a magical song and dance called "Take Me to Love." The Bakshi sisters sing and express appropriate sentiment in "No Life without Wife" which is a delightful song mocking the awkward attempts by Mr. Kholi, an accountant of Indian background who lives near Hollywood, who returned to Amritsar, India to find himself a wife. Despite his obvious material successes in the USA, which he keeps pointing out to the Bakshi family, he can not connect socially with the right kind of female who appreciates his hard work and who possesses the cultural traits which he is seeking in a wife ... Mrs Bakshi is over-joyed to present and introduce her daughters to him. She wishes to marry her daughters off, one after the other to socially prominent, wealthy successful men, with the goal of climbing to a higher social class. The humorous lyrics of the song and amusing delivery by the Bakshi sisters captures the mood and feeling of the film.
  
  Nor could Jane Austen envision the beautiful Lalita played by one of India's most gorgeous and popular actresses, Aishwarya Rai. Mrs Bakshi plays a well meaning but scheming mother whose main concern is marrying off each of her four daughters to wealthy but worthy gentlemen of suitable families. Mr. Bakshi is a devoted and doting father who worked hard to build his business into a success. It provides his family a comfortable middle class lifestyle, nonetheless it still leaves his wife trying to improve upon the social status of her daughters through suitable marriage matches ... Lalita is the most beautiful and outspoken of the four girls in the Bakshi family. She is pleased her older sister Jaya met a barrister from London, who is of Indian background, whose busy lifestyle prevented him from meeting eligible female companions. He obviously fell head over heels in love with the lovely and quiet Jaya, after returning to Amritsar for exactly the purpose of finding a wife. His sister came along on the trip as did a wealthy American friend whose family is in the hotel business. The American friend, Will Darcy is captivated by the beauty, quick mind and outspoken nature of Lalita. She assertively voices her opinions which is not a trait held in high esteem by most eligible handsome wealthy bachelors. Will discovers Lalita is intriguing and attractive yet is put off by her outspokenness. He occassionally finds himself on the defensive when conversing with her but in the end her ideas cause him to ponder and question his personal values ... and also the ethical motives behind business deals.
  
  Lalita also discovers to her chagrin she is attracted to Will who is a handsome, worthy and intelligent opponent ... At social gatherings they manage to magnetize and repel each other with their heated debates about social and cultural values and differences. To Lalita's surprise, one of her best friends agrees to an arranged marriage to Mr. Kholi ... The Bakshi family is sent an invitaton to the wedding along with economy class airline tickets to attend the ceremony in America. The wedding takes place on the grounds of the magnificent hotel owned by Will Darcy's family. Will takes Lalita on a whirlwind tour of California and the Southwest. She sees a different side to Will Darcy, one she never knew existed. She falls in love with him but then overhears someone whisper how something Will had said to his Indian barrister friend caused the break up of his romance with her sister Jaya ... Lalita is broken hearted and devasted. She confronts Will. He admits the break-up was his fault. The reader must view the film to discover how these two people of such vastly different backgrounds make peace and rekindle their romance and love. In the end it burns brighter than ever. The film is filled with passion, energy, romance, class differences, cultural clashes and to the viewer's immense satisfaciton, a happy ending. It is a colorful pageantry of the sights, sounds, and music of India in the best Bollywood tradition. A most hightly recommended film. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]
  
  
• Stunning and hilarious adaptation - full blown Indian interpretation
  By AGG9C66TOLJZB on 2005-10-15
  I loved this! To me it is like Emma and Clueless were to LA - this is Pride and Prejudice to India. the essence of Austen taken on by a different culture. It is immensely colourful and rather than stick completely to the plot has allowed the vibrant colour and issues of a modern day india translate their own issues within the framework of Austen.
  
  It is enormously good natured and richly colourful. This is not just the characters but also the costumes - and whoever did the cinematography WOW!
  
  Lalita, the second daughter of the Bakshirs takes on the role of 'Elizabeth' in the traditional Pride and Prejudice. She meets William Darcy who has come with his friend Bill (Mr Bingley) to an Indian Wedding. There are four sisters in Lalita's family - which is enough - the "Jane" for Bingley to fall for, the 'Mary" to humiliate the family in this case with a very strange cobra dance - and a 'Kitty' to run away with Wickham.
  
  the main plot devices are there - Mr Kohli (Mr Collins) comes back from LA to make a match with one of the Bakshir daughters - and he is every bit the part! The conflict of Mr Darcy with the bumbling stupidity of Mr Kohli and the duplicitous unctiousness of Mr Wickham are there.
  
  Some have minor changes, "lady Catherine" is now Catherine, Darcy's mother. Catherine brings Darcy's girlfriend 'Anne' along to the Indian Wedding in the garden in LA mucking up the budding romance between Lalita and Darcy - which is a nice nod to the 'pretty kind of a wilderness' used in the original Pride and Prejudice.
  
  I loved the mixture of Bollywood and its musicals with Austen humour and style - I just about wet my pants in the first few minutes when a hugely noisy singing dancing scene turned up. All the elegance of the nineteenth century is lost in a see of enthusiastic waving, singing and dancing, and it is all done (i am sure with self-deprecating humour! It is not just for those in the know - this is very much laughing at the whole essence of Austen and her interpretations, you can't think of anything more removed from a drawning room of elegant aristocracy than maybe an Indian Wedding.
  
  But there is also other knowing laughs - I really enjoyed the segue to an American Gospel choir on the beach at LA, accompanied by a couple of dancing Baywatchers and a group of surfies complete with boards.
  
  I felt the actors were very well suited to their parts - Lalita is definitely an intelligent and feisty interpretation of Elizabeth - my only minor problem with her is she is altogether too luminously beautiful that she completely outshines the 'Jane' character. Jane is supposed to be the beauty of the family and it is patently not true here. "Jane" is certainly beautiful too, and she brings out the sweetness and gentleness of character necessary in the part. I loved Martin Henderson as Darcy, his reserve slowly fading as he gets to know the family better. He is nice looking although I had trouble believing him as a millionaire hotellier - it wasn't out of the realms of possibility.
  
  This is an enormously colourful and good natured interpretation - I loved it!
  
  
• Gigle gigle
  By on 2005-02-08
  I thought overall this film was brillant. I went to see it with a friend the first day it came out as i am a big fan of Pride and Prejudice. when the film first started i wasn't sure about it as it was going into song every few minutes. but then it got better and better as it went on. there were some points where i was giggling so much that people in front of me were turning around to look at me. not only was it funny but a touching and well written script. the acters and dances were brillant. i think this film is fantastic and would be really good for sleepoers GET IT NOW!!!
  
  
• A very funny and touching film
  By AXFI7TAWD6H6X on 2005-02-17
  Ever since I saw the "60 Minutes" interview with Aishwarya Rai, Bollywood's highest paid actress, last month I had been anticipating to see "Bride and Prejudice". Now that I had seen it, was it worth the wait? Yes. I was thoroughly captivated throughout the 100 minutes of the film.
  
  Based on "Pride and Prejudice", the story revolves around a traditional (Indian) family whose mother tries to marry off her four daughters. Of course one of her daughters has to be headstrong and goes against her mother's traditional ideas of marriage which is that she believes in arranged marriages. Aishwarya Rai plays Lalita, the second eldest daughter who clashes with her mother on the issue of marriage. Martin Henderson plays Lalita's love interest Will Darcy, a wealthy businessman who encounters Lalita at an engagement party. In the beginning Lalita and Darcy clash because they came from two different upbringing. I personally thought Martin and Aishwarya had lots of chemistry together. Of course I didn't think they would ever hook up because of Jonathan Wickman who was Darcy's rival for Lalita's affections but in the end everything works out.
  
  I have to admit that I had never seen a Bollywood film. I was not used to the musical numbers but it did not take me very long to fall in love with the music. I was hooked pretty much right away. The music was what really made this film very fun and entertaining to watch for me. I especially loved the comical number "No Life Without Wife" in which Lalita and her sisters imagine Lalita being married to an obnoxious, crude businessman named Mr. Kholi (played by Gulshan Grover). The other hilarious moment was when Lalita's younger sister performed her snake dance. That was too funny. I also loved the musical number when Darcy and Lalita were on the beach in Los Angeles and there was a full blown choir and the lifeguards were also singing. I also enjoyed the brief cameos by "Gilmore Girls" Alexis Bledel and Marsha Mason as Darcy's sister and mother. I would have liked to have seen more of them in the film though. I can't think of one possible flaw with this film except maybe that they dragged on the sub-plot between Johnny Winkman and Lahki (Lalita's younger sister) a bit too long and didn't explain why Johnny's mother was fired by Will Darcy.
  
  I was immensely entertained up until the very end where they showed bloopers during the credits. I look forward to seeing more of Aishwarya Rai in the near future. After seeing her in this film, I can't imagine her not becoming a big star in the US.
  
  
• 2 different versions . . . .
  By A27O96T988SBFF on 2006-03-02
  I absolutely loved this movie after I saw it. At first I thought I would not because of the music. I really do not like musicals too much, but this movie and its music is great. I love to listen to the songs on this movie. The plot is good also and was pretty close to the general ideas of the Jane Austen novel!
  
  The only thing that disappointed me and that I am still trying to figure out is why there are 2 different versions of the movie. When I rented the movie and saw it the first time, it had all of the song full lenght and it had various extra scenes when they were in Goa, including one where Kiran slights the neighborhood where Jaya's and Lahlita's aunt and uncle live in London. Luckily I taped this version because when I went to buy the movie it turns out that the movie I bought had cut a lot of the songs and cut alot of the Goa scenes including the one I mentioned above. This is unfortunate because the movie that I bought is collecting dust while I keep watching what I call, the full version from what I taped!
  
  
• Balli Balli!
  By A3QMTKT25Y39OP on 2005-01-11
  This film is genuinely fun and fantastic. Its light and refreshing with with euphoric music, nice cinematography and good acting. The characters are all well developed and carry the story effortlessly. I would thouroughly recommend this film for anyone who needs a light afternoon or a short vacation.
  
  
• Bride and Prejudice
  By A2YSL4LRACC1SQ on 2005-04-29
  I must say that growing up in western society, but having watched Bollywood films all my life, I really enjoyed this film. It's a blend of Bollywood and Hollywood and it's a very good attempt at it.
  
  Fair enough, the songs may be a bit much for fans of more conventional Hollywood films and can be pretty cheesey, but though they don't do much for the plot, they can entertain.
  
  The main win with this film is that the adaptation works. The way that they have incorporated the major point of Pride and Prejudice and adapted them actuallly work quite well, thanks to the simularity between the typical Indian culture and the way that marriages used to work.
  
  This film is light and entertaining. I love it.
  
  And if that doesn't convince you, Martin Henderson and Aishwarya Rai are both beautiful...
  
  
• Lighten up, folks! Good, clean, cheeky fun......
  By A1HXAOOU2PMNTZ on 2005-07-09
  We have a bunch of "straight" Western musicals and "straight" Austen P&P retellings and "straight" bollywood musicals-why not mix it up a little bit and have some fun with the different genres, folks? How boring to insist on doing things the same all the time! Chadha tries to breathe new life into this tale, as well as the Western and Bollywood musical genre, and I think she succeeds in a very light hearted, contagiously joyful way.
  
  It reminds me of old style musicals where love is celebrated shamelessly, cynicism is checked at the door, and people are so full of emotion, they sometimes have to break out in song to properly communicate their feelings. What's wrong with that?
  
  Musicals are suppossed to present life in rose technicolored glasses. Chadha delivers this without any apologies or self consciousness. Yes, there are bollywood influences, but this is NOT a straight bollywood musical. Yes, this story plays very closely to Austen's story, but it's NOT a straight retelling of the beloved work. And yes, the director is winking at us the whole time, knowing how our jaded American/Western minds work-just when she almost crosses the line with gushiness and cheesiness(well, cheesiness from our Western perspective) in terms of emotion and drama, she includes some comic relief to let us know she's in on the fun.
  
  So, just enjoy the ride, take in all the colors and music and dance without suspicion, and appreciate the fact that a sweet and romantic love story can be told in this day and age with as much vigor and celebration as this one. Lalita and Will are fine and unique additions to the P&P hall of fame.
  
  
• Bollywood at its best---a fun adaptation
  By ANA2PVMARGY8H on 2007-06-21
  I love Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and the recent movie adaptations of it (Colin Firth '96 and Keira Knightley '06). This movie cleverly weds the wit of Austen with the song and dance of Bollywood. In Bride's family, we get counterparts for elder sister Jane, Mary with her dubiously entertaining "snake dance," and Lydia and her doomed attraction for Wickham; there is no parallel for Elizabeth's sister Kitty. The storyline is pretty comparable and the deleted scenes complete the Lady Catherine/Elizabeth confrontation and Darcy's apology to Bingley.
  
  While the young man who played Darcy was very handsome and came off as quite the gentleman, I thought the actor who played Wickham (Daniel Gillies) took the cake in the hottness factor (at almost 5'10", I tend to be attracted to tall men with nice builds--I like the illusion of feeling petite). Normally, I'm not competitive with other women in the looks department, but I admit to having been jealous of Aishwarya Rai's intense, angelic beauty. She has naturally blue-green eyes and auburn-streaked hair, rare coloring for an Indian woman. I always thought that Brooke Shields was arguably the most beautiful woman of my awareness (Brooke Shields is still very beautiful, but she looked like an angel when she was in her twenties and thirties), but perhaps Aishwarya is a close second. Of course, I'm violating the Dalai Lama's admonition to be happy for other people's good fortune with this jealousy of Aishwarya's beauty :-)
  
  I loved the singing and dancing scenes. The director said that she tapered Bollywood Eastern music to Western taste. Ashanti makes an appearance, fusing many different musical styles with her performance.
  
  The guy who plays Mr. Kholi (Mr. Collins) was amusing in his self-indulgent portrayal of a nerdy man who was trying too hard. The mother wasn't quite as obnoxious as Alison Steadman's rendition, but you get the point of a pushy woman with questionable social graces.
  
  One of my favorite things about this movie were the bright colors that pervade every scene. From the clothing, the interiors, to the backdrop of an Indian village, everything is kodachrome.
  
  
  
  
• Bollywood Meets Hollywood
  By A3M2WW0PO34B94 on 2005-04-13
  Lalita (Aishwarya Rai) is one of four daughters in a traditional Indian family. Her cousin's marriage brings family from far and wide. One of the family friends is Balraj (Naveen Andrews, currently on TVs "Lost") and his sister, Kiran. Balraj is a barrister in London and all of Lalita's sisters take a second look at him. Balraj has brough his American friend, Will Darcy (Martin Henderson), the heir to a luxury hotel chain, along for the ride. Darcy is immediately drawn to Lalita, but both people are concerned about the culture clash and no small amount of miscommunication keeps them apart.
  
  Traveling from Amritsar, a small town in India, to Goa, to London, to Beverly Hills and back to London and Amritsar, "Bride and Prejudice", Gurinder Chadha's follow-up to "Bend It Like Beckham, has a scope that is probably too big for it's own good. Attempting to meld Bollywood musicals and Western dramas with English literature, the film is successful. But it is most successful when the story is anchored to India.
  
  Within minutes of the credits, Andrews and every other Indian male at the wedding party bursts into an elaborate, fun to watch dance that is meant to be a sort of mating dance. Then the women, including Lalita and her three sisters joins in. Darcy watches from a balcony above and resists Balraj's attempts to get him to join in. The dance is fun, frenetic and very "Bollywood". This dance is also a terrific way to introduce the viewer to the world of Bollywood. Let's face it, most Westerners would probably find a Bollywood musical number at least a little strange. Due to the lack of musicals produced in Hollywood, we just aren't used to watching people spontaneously break out into song. In India, this is apparently hugely popular. Many of their films contain this type of musical interlude.
  
  When the film is set in India, the characters interact with Darcy and he is the outsider. When it moves to London and Beverly Hills, Lalita and her family become the outsiders. This shift, while necessary from a dramatic viewpoint, makes them appear slightly oafish and too comical. It really diminishes the intelligence of this Indian family.
  
  The idea of mixing Bollywood-style musical numbers with western storytelling is not a new one. There have been a couple of less successful examples in the last few years. "Predjudice" falls short when the story moves to the West. As Darcy and Lalita are walking along the beach in Santa Monica, a chorus of church choir singers suddenly appears, singing. A couple of lifeguards and a few surfers also join in. This is a novel idea, but the number is not as large or elaborately choreographed as it's Bollywood cousins and it falls short.
  
  "Bride and Prejudice" works very hard to try to blend all of the various styles and influences that are at work here, and it succeeds, for the most part. If you are unable to overlook the less imaginative, slower, more serious Western influences, you might actually enjoy a quick glimpse into a culture that deserves more attention.
  
  
  
• Gorgeous Swirl of Color - but Character Depth was Lost
  By A3V6Z4RCDGRC44 on 2006-02-07
  Let's say right up front that Bride & Prejudice was never meant to be an "authentic step by step translation". It was meant to be a fun musical, with a ton of gorgeous Indian color, with the general theme of a famous book. I'll be doing this review from this point of view. It's silly to argue that "Darcy should have been more X to match the book" or that "Lizzie shouldn't speak with slang". It's the themes that matter - not the exact specifics.
  
  The movie is interested because it was deliberately set up to appeal equally to English-speaking audiences as well as Indian natives. In fact, the first song is done completely in Indian. 99% of the actors and actresses are Indian. In fact, some scenes are very strongly pro-Indian and anti-West. But we'll get to that in a moment.
  
  Darcy is a US friend of Balraj (Bingley), an Indian guy returned to India for a wedding. England/US is set up as the "elegant cultured" high class society of the book, while the small Indian town is set up as the "back water sludge" of Lalita's (Lizzie's) hometown. At the party, Darcy very clearly is "uncomfortable" with the culture he didn't understand - NOT "snobbish" and considering himself above it. He didn't know how to do the dances. In the book, the point was that he DID know how to (very well) but considered himself above it.
  
  Two seconds later we have another song, where the whole town demands more weddings to have fun. At this point I have to comment that with the VERY long musical numbers in an under-2-hour movie, it cuts down on the minutes you can have character development. Some musicals - like Chicago and Grease - have musical numbers that are incredibly important to the story and do amazing jobs of filling out a character's personality. These numbers here have color and glitz but pretty much no "story meaning". I really wish they could have made the musical numbers more integral to the movie itself.
  
  Next comes one of the scenes I liked the least. After the wedding, Darcy comes up to talk to Lizzie. He mentions the problem's he's having at the hotel. She gets snappy and lures him into an argument by asking him questions and then arguing with his truthful responses. He dislikes arranged marriages. She pushes him and he agrees that it was the groom's choice. So she fights with that too! Then she kicks up the fight to say all Americans are arrogant. She doesn't come across as intelligent. She comes across as incredibly grumpy.
  
  On to the beach. Caroline teases Lalita about reading a big book and Lalita is nasty back about Caroline's make-up. When Caroline makes a dig about Lalita being accomplished, Lalita says proudly, "Maybe." She then jumps on Darcy as being an Imperialist, because anybody who builds a hotel here is obviously harming the local economy with such an action. Darcy tries to talk to her and she refuses.
  
  In the book the main message is that Darcy stands back because of pride. Lizzie is genuinely nice, and even when she criticizes she does it with a smile. We don't get that at ALL here. Here, Darcy tries to fit in when he can and stands back when he's unsure what to do. Lizzie is downright nasty. I have to wonder just why Darcy keeps trying.
  
  Wickham doesn't come across as 'bad' at all - if anything, Lucky chases him down and he reluctantly gives in. The Collins character isn't obsequious or hung up on the pride of working for another - he's made his own way and is lonely.
  
  I realize of course this is a fun musical version. However, it seems like they made ALL characters much blander. I admit that I feel very attached to the "Lizzie" character so to see her turned into a nasty grump really upset me. I normally love the Darcy character so to have him such a wimpy non-charismatic man didn't appeal to me. Wickham lost his "edge". Collins lost his "sleaze".
  
  I watched the movie several times to see if it'd grow on me. I adored the colors, dances and gorgeous Indian scenery - but I still just didn't connect with any characters in the story. It's great eye candy, but the powerful story of human beings got lost somewhere in the translation.
  
  
• Bend it like Jane Austen
  By A2CDMCG1Z84A51 on 2006-05-16
  This movie is a delight. I'm not familiar with Hindi films, so I cannot compare it to others in its genre, but I was entirely won over by its blending of East and West. For that purpose the selection of theme -- a reinterpretation of the English classic novel by Jane Austen, "Pride and Prejudice" -- was perfect. Every culture has its mating rituals and marriage customs. Those of early nineteenth-century Britain turn out not to be so different from twenty-first century India, especially the maternal desire to arrange for marrying off the daughters. We are all just one big human race after all.
  
  Through this film, I felt a growing admiration of and appreciation for modern Indian culture: the colors, the music, the golden light. The beautiful Indian women and their gorgeous filmy gowns. What a spectacle -- Wow!
  
  
• Amazed and Impressed
  By AFOP4Q3JUKV7L on 2007-07-14
  I did not want to watch this movie. Pride and Prejudice (by Jane Austen) is one of my favorite novels, and I did not want that book to be marred by a stupid comedy. My brother, who has never read Pride and Prejudice, made me watch it (I had fully intended to sneak out of the room once he got into the film). I definitely didn't expect to love this movie; but I do. It was wonderful! This was one of the few GOOD romantic comedies (and it followed the book pretty well).
  
  I'm not going to go into plot much because if you didn't know the plot of Pride and Prejudice before reading this ; I'm sure you picked it up by now from reading other reviews. So, why did I like this movie?
  
  The scripting is wonderful, and even though some characters/situations are changed (not to mention the whole modern setting thing) it keeps the integrity of Pride and Prejudice intact. This is a Bollywood film; and as such the music and dance (a LOT of music and dance)is very different than what I, as an American, am used to. However, it was fun. The tunes were catchy, and most importantly the movie was funny and you ended up caring about the character (though Jane Austen deserves most of the credit for that; the actors did a good job too).
  
  The scenes are all colorful and the setting is just enjoyable to watch. There really isn't much dull time, either. I remarked to my brother that this was like Pride and Prejudice for people with ADHD. Quick moving (the movie is only 112 minutes) and easy to watch.
  
  If you, like me, were reluctant to watch this movie; I ask you to put your prejudice aside and just try it. If you don't get into it I'll be surprised. I watched this movie with family and everyone ended up liking it.
  
  Me, don't like romantic comedies much: LOVED IT
  My brother (hasn't read book, 24, not much for musicals)and my
  sister-in-law (Chinese, not used to American/English culture, knew very little about the book) both really, really liked it.
  
  
  
• Wonderful direction, good entertainment
  By A3FUCO313YVBHV on 2005-02-27
  This is a brilliant presentation of not so powerful storyline about typical Indian culture. Movie is as colorful as Indian weddings itself. Gurinder Chadha, the director, has talent to do justice to the characters through good scene sequences and dialogs.
  I think the second downside of the movie was that the subtle mixture of dance numbers with the core story in the early part of the movie. I liked the typical mom under the pressure of getting her daughters married, comic dialogs, very well balanced and paced story, good entertainment.
  
  Very well recommended.
  
  
• Jane Austen done Bollywood style means fun, fun, fun!
  By A2NJO6YE954DBH on 2005-07-07
  "Bride and Prejudice" is a lot of fun. I have never seen a "Bollywood" movie before, so this was a totally new experience for me. I liked the orgy of bright colors and was intrigued by the dancing, which certainly made the songs more memorable for their rhythms than their lyrics. But what is wrong with that? Dancing with a sense of grace seems beyond me, but I think I could do some of the dances in this movie and lose some weight. Especially if I am trying to do the extended versions of the four big dance numbers provided in the special features. They were, to repeat the initial sentiment expressed above, fun. It has been a while since I have seen a movie and just had fun watching it. After all, I know what is going to happen, so stressing style over substance is fine with me.
  
  I found the idea of putting Jane Austen's novel in the context of a modern family in India totally charming at face value, especially knowing that director Gurinder Chadha ("Bend It Like Beckahm") was the one making the movie. My familiarity with the story of the Bennett family is such that I was instantly able to recognize who was now who in the new configuration and what the corresponding scene from the novel would be for most of what was happening. I liked a lot of what they did in this regard, such as transforming Mary's piano playing debacle into an equally overplayed example of traditional Indian dance by Maya (Meghna Kothari). None of the transformations were heavy handed, which can be dangerous in an attempt such as this, and the key thing was the delight of discovering each act of translation.
  
  I even figured out that Mrs. Darcy (Marsha Mason) was going to be the Lady Catherine de Bourgh character and was somewhat surprised that the scene where she insists that Lalitha not marry her son ended up in the deleted scenes. That is the pivotal scene in the novel, the point at which it suddenly dawns on Elizabeth that marrying Mr. Darcy is not the worst thing in the world, but its omission in "Bride and Prejudice" makes sense because the script by Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges moves his first proposal to much latter in the narrative. I agree that what made sense for a story set amongst the landed gentry of Hanoverian England does not necessarily work for modern India, so the change was a smart move. Besides, Lalitha has a scene where she goes toe-to-toe with Mrs. Darcy, which is the other important aspect of the scene. Consequently, Chadha and Berges have shown the requisite fidelity to the essence and key details of the Austen novel even as they change locations and nationalities.
  
  It is not like the universality of "Pride and Prejudice" was every lost on us in the first place, even as we have come to admire Austen's attention to period detail and socially attuned characterizations. The Bakshi family lives in a rural town in India where the mother (Nadira Babbar) is wholly committed to getting her four daughters married, while her husband (Anupam Khre) endures the trials and tribulations of her frantic efforts. When Jaya (Namrata Shirodkar) and Balraj Bingley (Naveen Andrews) spark when they meet at a wedding it looks like the dreams of Mrs. Bakshi will come true for one of her girls. But William Darcy (Martin Henderson) disapproves of Balraj's interest, which gives Lalitah (Aishwarya Rai), the oldest daughter and the one always being warned by her mother not to seem too intelligent, another reason not to like him.
  
  Darcy is to some extent an Ugly American in this incarnation, which lets the second key word of the title resonate in a slightly different way in this version, but not too much, because a bigoted Mr. Darcy is not going to be accepted by anybody. That is also why the subplot involving Johnny Wickham (Daniel Gillies) and Lakhi (Peeya Rai Chowdhary) is a tad differently. Again, this all shows the screenwriters understood what they were doing in translating Austen's novel to the screen in this fashion, and reinforces the idea that the primary purpose here was to have fun. For all I know the musical numbers here are only second-rate Bollywood extravaganzas, in which case I cannot wait to see what else is out there. The bottom line here is simple: you have to know going in whether or not you buy the idea of turning Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" into a Bollywood number. If you think that is a great idea, then you will enjoy this 2004 film. If you think that sounds weird, then lighten up. You are missing out on the fun here.
  
  
• Not For Every Taste, But It Suits Me Just Fine!
  By A3ORYPV49QEEAL on 2005-07-07
  This movie is exactly how it sounds, A Bollywood style musical comedy based on Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. It is made by Gurinder Chadha who also wrote Bend It Like Beckham, so it is flavored with her witt and comedy. I will write 2 outlines, one for those of you who will love this film, and one for those of you who will turn it off half way through......
  
  You Will Love This Movie Because:
  If you like Bend It Like Beckham for it's strong female characters, ethnic flavor, and witty writing you will like B&P for the same reasons. The story centers around a forward thinking Indian woman, one of five sisters. She wants to be married and dreams of romance, but she also wants to be treated like an equal, and not just some man's wife. If you have read/seen Pride & Prejudice you will know pretty much what happens from here. What makes this telling unique are the gorgeous locations all over India, the colors and the flavors of a rich Indian culture, and some really fun musical numbers, both funny and lovely. I also very much enjoyed Monsoon Wedding, which is also full of culture and music. And I believe it is the Indian culture woven through this film that makes it so enjoyable, the music, the cuisine, the location, the clothing and colors. For every film goer that is open to something a little different (and very well done I might add) I highly recommend this film.
  
  You Will Not Like This Movie Because:
  If you saw Bend It Like Beckham, and are expecting more of the same, you might be disappointed. While Bride has some of the witty flavor, it is an entirely different genre. It is a musical, but not in the traditional sense, being filled with big bawdy musical numbers that are not traditional to American cinema. Yes, sometimes it is obvious that there is a bit of lip syncing going on, and there is a sense fantasy where you know all these people would never dance about that way. Unlike Beckham, this is very much and Indian film, (although very much westernized), and there is a certain style to a Bollywood film that makes a lot of traditional film goers uncomfortable. So for those of you who like the big summer blockbuster type movies, whether they are brainless or not, and are easily bored with foreign/musical/dramatic movies,this film may require a little to much of an open mind for you.
  
  But, when all is said and done, I loved this movie (and I like big summer movies too), and any film done well is a film for me. Bride & Prejudice will be among my favorites.
  
  
• Entertaining musical delight and fine tribute to Jane Austen
  By A2XGJ56VCFOKKZ on 2005-07-12
  I wasn't much of a fan of "Bend it like Beckham", so I think this film marks a step up for the director. I've never watched a Bollywood film all the way through, as I don't have the patience to sit through three or four hours of most films, so I was looking forward to watching her borrow the best elements from the Bollywood films (the song and dance routines). I also liked that she borrows heavily from Jane Austen's novel to create an original and clever work of her own (in the vein of "Clueless").
  
  I love the Indian actress who plays the lead, with her opinionated comments and strong determination to stand up to anyone who disagrees with her. Her tart tongue, though, makes her not a good bride prospect for Indian males in search of a subservient wife. When she meets Darcy, their worldviews clash and since I knew those two would end up together, its interesting to watch how their opinions change for one another as the film rolls on.
  
  The film is mostly set in Amritsar, India but the Indian family this film centers on ends up globetrotting to London and Beverly Hills. I like how the story seems to offer a critique of both the condescending view many Westerners have of developing world nations (particularly the Western tourist fondness for traveling to luxurious resorts in faraway lands to brag to the folks back home that they've been to India without actually seeing "the real India") and the obsession of Indian society towards material social climbing. It's that clash that makes this film all the more interesting and far superior to the usual gamut of cliched "romantic comedies".
  
  The opening number "Marriage Has Come to Town" really sets the tone for the film and just try to keep your body still for that one. This is a good film to watch at home, as you'll probably want to dance along to the exotic beats of Indian music. Later on in the film, there's a musical sequence reminiscent of "Grease" (intentional, according to the director) and a beach rave scene featuring a seductive Ashanti at her best. By the film's end, with its satisfying conclusion, I simply wanted more, which is a good thing. Perhaps that's why Bollywood films are so long...viewers just aren't tired of the story to leave yet, as there are still more dancing to be done. I'm sure Jane Austen herself would approve of this transcultural tribute to one of her most famous novels.
  
  
• Delightful! Fun (if not entirely faithful) adaptation of Austen.
  By A3ELSU1SHRX09Y on 2005-08-01
  I wanted to see this film because I'm a big fan of the TV adaptations of "Pride and Prejudice" (and have read Austen's book many times). So I will try to review this movie from the perspective of a big P&P/Austen fan.
  
  First of all, if you are watching this film as someone who is very familiar with Pride and Prejudice, prepare yourself for some changes. It captures the essence of the story, but things are shifted around, shortened, condensed, and so forth. However, rest assured that the main characters all are there, and the general plot points (the ones that make Pride and Prejudice what it is) are all there.
  
  "Lizzie" is now Lalitha, played by the incredibly lovely and charming Aishwarya Rai, who is a number 1 movie star in India (and you can see why).
  
  Martin Henderson plays "Will Darcy," and while he's very attractive, he lacks a certain charisma at the beginning (but hey! We're supposed to dislike Darcy!). However, he does a servicable job and at the end of the film you really warm up to him.
  
  Naveen Andrews plays Balraj Bingley (aka "Mr. Bingley") and to me, he steals the show when he's onscreen. He has a whole lot of pizazz (especially in a great dance sequence early in the film).
  
  Marsha Mason plays Darcy's mom, (she substitutes for the role of "Lady Catherine DeBurgh"). Her role is not as prominent in this movie as in the novel (or in the TV productions of P&P), however, look for a deleted scene on the DVD to see a key P&P scene between her and Lalitha ("Lizzy").
  
  Mr. Wickham is here, as is one Miss Bingley (who doesn't seem quite as venomous as the two Bingley sisters in the book).
  
  There are now 4 "Bennet" (now Bakshi) sisters in this version--it appears like the character of Kitty has been elemintated.
  
  Mr. and Mrs. Bakshi ("Bennet") are *great* in this version, though their characters are not as clearly defined as in the book (the dad is not so much of a bookworm, the mom isn't quite so much of an over-the-top ninny--though she's pretty silly at times).
  
  There's also a "Mr. Collins" character, a "Charlotte Lucas" character, "Georgina Darcy" character, and so forth. Really, they did an amazing job in adapting this story so it resembles the Austen book as much as it does (while still making it work for 21st Century audiences).
  
  The core plot points of the book are all present here, but big changes have been made in the details, in order to make the story work for modern times (and for people from Indian, British and US cultures). You will recognize the plot points, but sometimes the motivations or outcomes are somewhat different.
  
  There are several big musical (singing and dancing) sequences in the movie. As I found out from one of films presented in the DVD extras, this is an essential part of "Bollywood" films, and this movie was meant to appeal to both Western and Indian audiences. The songs were written by Indian composers, who crafted them to also be appealing to Western audiences. They did a fantastic job. The songs do eat up some screen time, but they are charming, fun, full of color and energy, and I decided that I liked them. A lot. Also, a seemingly unecessary dance number (Ashanti does a seductive dance and song in the middle of the movie) also is part of many Bollywood films (as the director explains in the DVD extras). Apparently, Indian filmgoers expect a big number such as this in the middle of such films.
  
  If you are a big Pride and Prejudice fan you should see this movie, but prepare yourself for what it is and isn't. It's faithful to the book--up to a point, but by no means is it even remotely meant to follow it in any great detail. Characters and situations are altered or tweaked, but they're all (mostly) there. "Mr. Collins" (now called Mr. Kholi) does what he does. There's the big "rejection scene" (if you know the book or TV miniseries, you know what I mean). The "Darcy comes to the rescue" scene is present, but decidedly altered. And so forth and so on. If you know this about the movie going in and can accept this, you won't be disappointed at all.
  
  Another interesting detail: apparently lead actress Rai (who plays Lalitha) will not kiss her leading men onscreen (due to cultural issues in India, it would be the "kiss of death" to her career to kiss onscreen). The lack of kissing in this movie doesn't really matter all that much (the characters are able to show tenderness and affection well enough without it), but the reasons why there isn't any smooching are pretty interesting.
  
  
• I wish I had liked this film more--I really tried....
  By ADS5APY1NKTL4 on 2005-08-03
  When I heard that the beautiful, talented, memerizing Aishwarya Rai, one of the most famous Bollywood stars, was to star in a cross-over film, targetted at launching her career overseas, I was so excited! For those of you not familiar with Ms. Rai, she has starred in many, many Bollywood films (the Indian equivelant of our Hollywood films in this country), is not only a wonderful actress, whose performances really touch your soul with her tenderness and intensity, but is also a beautiful dancer and a fine ambassador for her country, and a former Miss Universe. It really sounds like the whole package, doesn't it?
  
  "Bride and Prejudice" is a modern, East-meets-West interpretation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," with a Bollywood spin on it, of course. This means romantic scenes and high drama, intermixed with flashy, energetic dance numbers, along with dance numbers. Lalita (Aishwarya Rai) is a beautiful, intelligent and highly opinionated Indian woman who encounter Will Darcy (Martin Henderson) during a wedding, and sparks fly. Will is an American, who comes from a family whose business is rooted in the hotel industry, and has intentions of starting a new hotel in Lalita's town. This leads to a lot of heated conversations, and Lalita's frustrations surface regarding the exploitation of her people's "exoticism" in the eyes of Western culture.
  
  What could have been interesting and intelligent really came off as preachy to me. Rai, who usually plays intelligent, opinionated characters in her Bollywood films, in India, comes off as shrill and even bratty in this story! The air of political-correctness truly took the joy out of the movie for me. Also, even though Gurinder Chadha, the director, had great intentions and tried to intermix humor, romance and music into the story, to give us, the Western audience, a little sense of the diverse flavors of Bollywood, I really felt she tried too hard to be everything to everybody.
  
  Nevertheless, you have to hand it to Rai for attempting to reach her potential American fanbase. My reccomendation to you is that skip this film and watch either "I Have Found It" or "Straight From the Heart (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam)." These are two beautiful examples of Aishwarya Rai's depth and soulfulness as an actress.
  
  
• Jane Austen in India
  By A3DE9GQDO6O6D1 on 2005-09-03
  While perhaps not as good as the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice, Bride and Prejudice is a worthwhile movie to spend a few hours watching. The costumes and beautiful women plus the lively dancing is worth the couple of hours of viewing.
  
  The story of four Indian daughters and a mother seeking husbands for them is played out against the arrival in their town of a wealthy India now living in England and a wealthy American hotel owner. Almost at once the oldest daughter and the American find themselves raging about almost everything. And when an English acquaintance of the American arrives in India and the oldest daughter si drawn to him, the American must decided if she is the one despite their differences.
  
  One of the most interesting characters in the movie is the Indian who now lives near "North California, not 90210 Beverly Hills when the the mother asks him where he lives in California, and who is looking for an Indian wife to bring back with him. He is a funny and sad character as he tries to imrpress everyone with his green card. It is here that the director and screen writer allow the audience to reflect on the difference between those that have left India seeking fame and riches in England or the United States and those who have remained behind.
  
  In the last number of years I have been throughly intrigued by movies made in India. Along with films such as Monsoon Wedding, The Masseur, Bend it Like Beckham and the Broadway show Bombay Dreams, Bride and Prejduice is a movie that I highly recommend to viewers. I also look forward to contuing to watch movies made in Bollywood.
  
  
• Bollywood has arrived!
  By A2EGK0YRDF4ZZB on 2005-09-22
  Much to the utter confusion of my parents, I have been in love with Bollywood and bhangra for years. Bollywood is India's massive film industry based in Bombay (now Mumbai), which produces more films annually than Hollywood. Bollywood films are formulaic, musical tales that combine a number of genres: action, musicals, romances, and tragedy. There are always hundreds of extras that break into song and dance at the drop of a turban. With Bollywood, suspension of disbelief is required.
  
  Gurinder Chadha, mastermind behind the immensely popular "Bend It Like Beckham" (2002), returns at the helm of this Bollywood retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, adapting the novel to modern rural India and the Bakshi family, who owns a small farm in Amritsar. The four unmarried daughters (Jaya, Maya, Lakhi, and Lalita) are a source of constant fretting for their mother, who hopes to marry them off for their dowries. The dashingly handsome Londonite Balraj (Naveen Andrews) arrives at a wedding party, along with his American friend Will Darcy, a hotel heir. Jaya is smitten by Balraj, but Will Darcy makes a horrible first impression on Lalita, dismissing Indian culture and arranged marriages, which prompts an impassioned speech by Lalita about subservient, simple women.
  
  For most of the film, the two grate on each other's nerves whenever they meet. Lalita's mother tries to get her to marry the green-card holder Kholi, an obnoxious, chauvinist, hip-hop wannabe who spouts phrases like "Word up!" and does mock-gang hand symbols, bragging about his million-dollar house in L.A. Lalita refuses, and Kholi ends up marrying her best friend. Feeling betrayed, she runs into Johnny Wickham at Goa, and is instantly attracted to him. He warns her about Will Darcy, but Lalita soon finds that appearances can be deceiving.
  
  In typical Bollywood style, the various plots and romances cross in and out and intertwine, sprinkled with several show-stopping numbers (the extended versions, some over ten minutes, are included as bonus features), brilliantly colorful costumes, and exotic tastes of India throughout: crowded marketplaces, the Golden Temple of Amritsar used as a backdrop, wedding saris, trays of Indian sweets.
  
  Having a history of Bollywood films, I loved this, but the marriage of Bollywood and Hollywood seemed a bit foreign even to me. Having Indian choruses breaking out in clearly dubbed English instead of Hindi was off-putting. At times, the editing could have benefited from extra cutting, as the film felt overly long, even with the musical numbers scaled down. Western audiences may be turned off by the Bollywood conventions, which are not spelled out or explained, such as Aishwarya Rai not kissing Martin Henderson. In Bollywood, kissing or sexual contact is taboo and is represented by chirping birds, crashing waves, etc., so we never see the two kiss on-screen.
  
  Aishwarya Rai is Bollywood's biggest star. She gained 20 pounds for the role so as not to appear model-thin; she wanted to be seen as "normal." This is her first film entirely in English, and she does all of her own singing. Her luminous beauty makes her perfect for the role.
  
  The music is also available as a soundtrack, both in an English version and a Hindi version. Ashanti has a cameo in the film as a tribute to the Bollywood convention of having a famous singer sing a song on-screen that has nothing to do with the movie's plot. Her number is sizzling, and was shot live after she was flown in to Goa for the shoot.
  
  The DVD contains numerous extras, including a director's commentary, extended songs, Ashanti's music video, interviews with Aishwarya Rai and Martin Henderson (Johnny Depp and Joaquin Phoenix were both considered for the role of Mr. Darcy - I would have loved to see Johnny Depp, personally!), a making-of, and more.
  
  Bollywood fans will love this, as will people who enjoy Indian music or who are open-minded about how movies should look or sound. I don't think this is nearly as bad as many fans and critics made it out to be; Gurinder will forever be measured up to "Bend It Like Beckham," which she may never top in popularity or cohesiveness, but "Bride and Prejudice" has much to recommend it.
  
  
  
• A disappointment, but worth watching (at least once) nonetheless!
  By A22HKXRW73QB1W on 2005-10-22
  I was awaiting this movie for months. I was sure I'd love it completely. Jane Austen's novel is one of my favorite pieces of literature and Gurinder Chadha's previous film, Bend It Like Beckham, blew me away. While I will say it is unfair to compare this film to Chadha's "Beckham" and on that alone condemn it, it is certainly true that because of the brilliant and well-formed work she did there, I found "Bride" to be a double disappointment.
  
  I am a fan of musicals. I am a fan of Pride and Prejudice. I am a fan of Gurinder Chadha's previous work. I am a lover of Indian culture. By all rights, I should have adored this. I am fairly confident that had it been it's own, original story I would have. But it seemed to me that the film spent too much time and too much of the actors' skills on trying to fit into the "Pride & Prejudice" mold and got so tangled up in its own plot, it had nothing to do but...splat.
  
  Make no mistake, it was a beautiful, colorful, effusive, musical, and altogether lovely looking splat...but a splat nonetheless. In the book "Pride & Prejudice", Elizabeth's dislike of Darcy is perfectly warranted (prejudiced, yes, but warranted just the same). In the film, her Indian counterpart was simply overreacting. "Darcy" never really does anything to draw the viewer's ire and "Elizabeth" spends much of the film doing nothing more than acting like a spoilt child (a waste of the acting talent Indian model/actress Aishwarya Rai has) unless of course, she's singing. Indeed, the musical numbers were for me one of the only parts of the movie I could stop being annoyed. They were truly wonderful, full of color, culture, creative choreography and top notch vocals (though at times more cloying that charming). Throughout the rest of the movie, however, it was as if, for some inexplicable reason (perhaps to draw in a larger audience?) the filmakers tried to force the Pride and Prejudice plot on Bride and Prejudice characters, which simply weren't compatible. As a female friend of mine commented after watching: "I liked Darcy from the beginning--Darcy! You aren't supposed to like him from the first! You're supposed to be upset with him for insulting Elizabeth and being a stuck-up prat." Indeed, Lalita is the one who is both proud and prejudiced, enough so for the both of them; Darcy's just caught in the middle, a likeable if not slightly bumbling American with a detestable, materialistic, Queen Bee archetype for a mother.
  
  In conclusion, the musical numbers were fantastic (if you go for that sort of thing), I enjoyed seeing "Lost" star Naveen Andrews as Balraj Bingley, and the man portraying the equivalent of Mr. Collins (whose name I am, regrettably unsure of--I believe it is Nitin Ganatra, though don't hold me to that) was satisfyingly unlikeable. However, the plot was forced, at the loss of credibility and character development, and I was left wondering what in the world went wrong with a movie I was so destined to enjoy. Ah, such is life I suppose. And it is a truth universally acknowledged that the more you "know" you're going to love something, the more likely you are to be let down.
  
  My real rating is closer to 2 and 3/4 stars: not quite enough for a full three, not bad enough for only two, but since I'm an optimist I went with 3. ;)
  
  The final word: Rent first! Buy it if you're charmed by all means. It seems if you actually take the time to watch it (and aren't forced to do so like my male, teenage cousin who fake-gags everytime you mention but the title) you come out with one of the following opinions: Either you love it and must own it (like my sister) or, find that while you liked parts of it, the parts you didn't like eclipse the ones you did leaving you glad you watched it once, but too let down to watch it again.
  
  The REAL Final Word: A thank you to Gurider Chadha for doing what she does. She is wonderful at it...and despite my less-than-happy feelings towards this film, I am certainly still looking forward to her next one.
  
  
• "no life - without wife...ooooh yah yah yah"
  By A2HVL790PBWYTU on 2006-02-27
  I first saw this on cable while channel surfing and was almost immediately hooked. I got on the Amazon site and ordered it as soon as the movie ended (no lie). Like some reviewers here, I had no idea what I was in for (Holy Smokes, Batman, folks are Singing and Cavorting!); but it very quickly won me over. I'd read and enjoyed Austen's Pride and Prejudice and had seen the Greer Garson,as well as the Colin Firth, movie renderings. Bride and Prejudice is a refreshing take, slanted towards a different culture. I'm sure I've missed some nuances that only those of Indian heritage could properly take in and appreciate, but I still got bang for my buck.
  
  The absolute star of 'Bride' is Aishwarya Rai, who has a blend of exotic beauty and down-to-earth personality that enchanted the hell out of me. The director, Gurinder Chadha (Kick It Like Beckham), uses exuberant colors in this flick like Americans must've used liquor the day Prohibition was abolished; and the music and dancing harken back to the days of Busby Berkeley, with a decidedly Bombay flavor. I wish I could go to Vons or Ralph's and witness a full-on Bollywood song & dance break out. Someone who'd posted earlier used the word "good natured" in reviewing this movie and that is the perfect description; this is an innately cheerful flick and I guarantee that you, movie fan, will end up humming the "No Life - Without Wife" number all day. And, lastly, o verily yea, Aishwarya Rai is undoubtedly the most beautiful woman in the universe.
  
  
• Extraordinary fusion of the two worlds
  By A5CWLQF6QO3CN on 2005-02-20
  Bride and Prejudice is the Indian version of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice with an Anglo-Saxon touch. The idea seems weird and awkward, but Gurinder Chadha managed to put the two different worlds of movie making together very well and neat. This director of the "Bend it Like Beckham" had shown us that different movie worlds could be connected, as long as you can get the formula right.
  
  The story of Bride and Prejudice is about a mother who has four daughters living in India, trying to "export" her eldest 2 daughters to the rich and wealthy Indians overseas. The story hovers around Aishwarya Rai and Martin Henderson who linked their fate together by a series of unfortunate incidents. Both actors were presented gorgeously, just like characters in typical Jane Austin's world but with a bit of modern and ethnic flavour. The story was well presented and there are a lot of gags trying to tailor to both the Indian and Western worlds. Chadha tried to introduce the world of out-of-nowhere-sudden singing and dancing sequences that exist in most Bollywood movies to the western audience with a huge western touch. Two of most important moderations are the use of English lyrics in Indian music and the R'n B tone Indian music in one of the songs. Some might feel very strange when you just read the words here, but it in fact works really well. What you would feel is a musical but just in Indian tunes (imagine the Sad Hindi Diamond track in Moulin Rouge but more Indian and better). Of course the director played hard on the awkward nature of sudden singing and dancing, but to appreciate the gag on this, you might need to watch one or two Bollywood movies before this.
  
  The whole cast gave a brilliant performance on various characters and some of the more noticeable ones are the mother and her rich Indian relative from LA. They in fact released most of the laughing gas in the movie and whenever they turn up on the screen, you would expect something interesting coming out from them. Rai and Henderson's performance are fair but Rai did provide most of the glamour in the movie, and as she paired together with Henderson, you just feel that they should be together.
  
  The movie spans 3 continents including India, Europe and America. In the movie you would be able to see some of the most iconic places in these countries such as the Golden Temple in India, the Millennium Eye in UK and the Grand Canyon in the States. Nonetheless, there are certain lines among the dialogues that could make you think about how the Director or Screen player's views about the differences and uncompromising aspects of these cultures. The conversations on the views about arranged marriage, about foreign investment in India, and the hypocrisy of pretentious open-mindedness are all very culturally challenging and enlightening.
  
  In all, Bride and Prejudice is a very entertaining movie. If you think you would get put off by Indian music or a western movie in Bollywood style, this will seriously surprise you. However, if you just want to watch a standard western musical or you don't care about any movies that are not compromising to the stereotypical western movie formula, better give it a pass. Otherwise just jump in and dance along with the tunes!
  
  
• Do yourself a favour........
  By A329UAYX6HIWL3 on 2005-02-24
  
  What a wonderful, uplifting, funny heart-warming movie - if you love Jane Austen, musicals, chickflicks, romantic movies - just GO SEE IT!! Big screen if possible - it really deserves it!!
  Standouts-- Nitin Chandra Ganatra as Kholi, the vain suitor, he is hilarious.
  Aishwarya Rai has so much presence and warmth, and charm, no wonder she is such a big star.
  Martin Henderson - wow - he is a better Darcy than Colin Firth - , all masculine pride and stiffness, but conveys warm tenderhearted feelings so well - they are brilliant together.
  All the Bakshi family are great, the sisters singing "No Life Without Wife" together is wonderful, The parents are funny and real.
  All the dancing and singing is fantastic fun, it does justice to Jane Austen, it's just warm wonderful fun.
  
  

• Monsoon Wedding
• Kuch Naa Kaho
• Bride & Prejudice
• The Mistress of Spices
• Bend It Like Beckham (Widescreen Edition)