Bride and Prejudice

Director: Gurinder Chadha Gurinder Chadha

Overview

The very British sensibilities of Jane Austen are introduced to the exotic flavors of the Bollywood musical in this romantic comedy with songs from the director of Bend It Like Beckham, Gurinder Chadha. Lalita Bakshi (Aishwarya Rai) is the lovely and eligible daughter of her socially ambitious mother and father (Nadira Babbar and Anupam Kher). Mother and father want to be sure that Lalita, the most beautiful of their four daughters, settles down with a man worthy of her, but she has proven resistant to matchmaking, announcing that she will choose her own husband, and will choose him for love. While mother is keen on the profoundly annoying Kholi (Nitin Chandra Ganatra), Lalita has had her head turned by a handsome vagabond from England, Johnny Wickham (Daniel Gilles). But while attending the wedding of a friend, Lalita meets Will Darcy (Martin Henderson), a college buddy of family friend Raj (Naveen Andrews) who is the son of a wealthy hotel magnate. Lalita finds that Will makes a strong impression on her -- she can't stand him, but she also can't get him out of her mind. Will feels the same way about her, and as they inadvertently chase one another over three continents, will morbid fascination grow into true love? Bride and Prejudice marked the first English-speaking role for Aishwarya Rai, who had firmly established herself as India's leading female star when this film was made.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/27/2021
UPC:	0191329201626
Original Release:	2004
Source:	Miramax
Language:	English
Time:	1:51:00
Sales rank:	6,220

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Aishwarya Rai	Lalita Bashiki
Daniel Gillies	Johnny Wickham
Martin Henderson	Will Darcy
Naveen Andrews	Raj
Namrata Shirodkar	Jaya Bakshi
Indira Varma	Miss Bingley
Nadira Babbar	Mrs. Bakshi
Anupam Kher	Mr. Bakshi
Meghna Kothari	Maya Bakshi
Peeya Rai Chowdhary	Actor
Alexis Bledel	Actor
Marsha Mason	Will's Mother
Sonali Kulkarni	Chandra Lamba
Nitin Ganatra	Mr. Kohli
Harvey Virdi	Mrs. Lamba
Shivani Ghai	Bride
Georgina Chapman	Anne
Mellan Mitchell	Bijili
Rick Warden	Neighbour
Saira Banu	Herself
Ray Donn	Limo Driver
Michael Dotson	Choir Member
Rahul Nath	Bakshis Relative
Neal Orion	Surfer
Bill Ridealgh	Vicar
Peter Rnic	Airline Passenger
Mike Wike	Bell Boy
Peeya Choudhary	Lucky Bashki
Ashanti	Actor
Anu Malik	Composer
Craig Pruess	Composer

Technical Credits

Gurinder Chadha

Paul Mayeda Berges

Jane Austen

Deepak Nayar	Producer
Gurinder Chadha	Producer,Director,Screenwriter
Paul Mayeda Berges	Screenwriter
Jane Austen	Screenwriter
François Ivernel	Executive Producer
Cameron McCracken	Executive Producer
Duncan Reid	Executive Producer
Tabrez Noorani	Producer
Steve Boag	Special Effects
Hugo Adams	Sound Effects
Sandy Buchanan	Sound Effects
Mark Andrew Clark	Sound Effects
Felicity Cottrell	Sound Effects
Monroe Cummings	Sound Effects
Susie Figgis	Casting
John Hayes	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

This delightful Jane Austen adaptation, a product of “Bollywood” (Bombay’s filmmaking colony), bears the unmistakable earmarks of Indian-made movies despite its nod to literary conventions. Set in the present day, it’s an audaciously conceived takeoff on Pride and Prejudice, brimming with the eye-popping musical numbers that distinguish Bollywood films. Rich young American hotelier Will Darcy (Martin Henderson) visits India with his old friend Balraj (The English Patient’s Naveen Andrews) to attend a wedding. Also attending is the socially ambitious Mrs. Bakshi (Nadira Babbar), who hopes to find prospective suitors for her four daughters. The strategy works, at least in part: Balraj falls for eldest daughter Jaya (Namarata Shirodkar), and Darcy seems attracted to younger sister Lalita (Aishwarya Rai). But he antagonizes her with tactless remarks and his preoccupation with business, making it unlikely that a relationship will blossom. In the best Bollywood tradition, characters burst into song and dance at the slightest provocation; hordes of extras suddenly appear to form impromptu chorus lines, and colorful settings automatically become staging grounds for elaborately choreographed production numbers that would do Busby Berkeley proud. The irresistible Ms. Rai, a former Miss World and the reigning queen of Bollywood, really stands out from the large, talented cast with her dynamic performances in these sequences. She’s an effervescent screen presence, bubbling over with an infectious energy that perfectly complements the high-spirited tone director Gurinder Chadha (Bend It like Beckham) brings to this ingenious Austen update.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

Although it made less than a fifth as much at the U.S. box office, Gurinder Chadha's follow-up to Bend It Like Beckham is a lot truer to the joyous Bollywood traditions that lurk in the background of her international soccer hit. Bride and Prejudice, Chadha's Indian take on the Jane Austen novel, also benefits from what should have been a crossover breakthrough for Aishwarya Rai -- voted the world's most beautiful woman by a consensus of 2005 Internet polls -- but didn't turn out to be the same career-making boost that Keira Knightley got from Beckham. Bride is quite literally light on its feet, as it serves up numerous breathtaking Indian song-and-dance numbers, deliriously choreographed in a rainbow of colors. The weaker Broadway-influenced numbers are more abrupt, but they still contribute to Chadha's commendable balance between intimate character development and large-scale production design. Chadha also tones down the "talkative ethnic mother humor" that undermined Beckham, lending a greater respect and believability to the Bakshi family, whose elders are torn between landing rich husbands for their daughters (the mother) and letting them follow their bliss (the father). Rai does an excellent job fashioning a modern feminist role model who refuses to play her ascribed cultural role, yet still shows exceptional fondness for her roots. Opposite her as Darcy, Martin Henderson deserves kudos for the soft-spoken dignity that gradually redeems his initial tactlessness. Chadha's chaste approach to the material -- the characters never even kiss -- prevents certain scenes from reaching full catharsis. And a fistfight that takes place in a movie theater, echoing the fisticuffs taking place onscreen, is pretty clichéd. But these are minor grievances in an otherwise unqualified success.

All Movie Guide

Under the direction of Bend It Like Beckham's Gurinder Chadha, this festively busy and exuberantly multicultural charmer is its own intriguingly postmodern creation.

Entertainment Weekly - Lisa Schwartzbaum

It's "knowingly" off-the-rails--and if you're in a tolerant or adventurous mood, very entertaining.

Chicago Tribune - Michael Wilmington