Bride & Prejudice

"Weak"

Bride & Prejudice Review


What do you get when you mix a Bollywood musical with a Jane Austen classic? I'm not sure, but if you take a pretty generic romantic comedy and throw in some musical numbers, you'll get Bride and Prejudice, the latest film from Bend It Like Beckham co-writer/director Gurinder Chadha.

The premise is similar to Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Here the setting is moved to India, where the not-so-wealthy (but still rich enough to hire servants) Bakshi family resides in a less-than-touristy district. Mrs. Bakshi (Nadira Babbar) is desperate to marry off her daughters. They include Jaya (Namrata Shirodkar), who has eyes for lawyer Balraj (Lost's Naveen Andrews), and Lalita (Aishwarya Rai) who is interested in Balraj's American friend Will Darcy (Martin Henderson), until she actually bothers to talk to him.

Darcy, as it turns out, is quite arrogant. But his British arch-nemesis Mr. Wickham (Daniel Gillies) seems like quite the catch. Unfortunately for Lalita, her mother is set on finding a nice, rich, American-ized Indian for her to marry in the form of Mr. Kholi (Nitin Chandra Ganatra, in a bout of hit-or-miss overacting). The romantic triangles proceed to play out with Austen-ian convolution, but with much more singing and dancing, and not nearly as memorable dialogue.

The early numbers in the film are quite promising. They evoke the lavish production of a Bollywood (or, for that matter, '50s Hollywood) musical with grandiose flourishes of color and masses of twirling extras. They inject life into an otherwise tepid retelling of a classic tale. But as the film goes on these numbers diminish until all we're left with is an occasionally clever romantic comedy with the odd touch of song popping up when the film remembers that it's also supposed to be a musical.

Not helping matters is Henderson's unrelentingly bland portrayal of Darcy, whose character arc goes from charmless and pompous to charmless and earnest. It's impossible to believe that Lalita, to whom Rai brings spark and vitality, could ever be interested in Darcy, with whom she exhibits no detectable chemistry. In fact, Andrews is so compelling with what little screen time he has as Balraj that one spends the whole movie wondering why he and Lalita don't get together, since they seem to be the only two interesting people in the film.

When the movie works, it's actually quite funny. Meghna Kothari, as one of the younger sisters, performs a hilarious "cobra dance" for the family. And the sudden appearance of a gospel choir on an L.A. beach is inspired. But overall, the dialogue and action only achieve a sort of sit-commy feel.

The film's edge lies in its incorporation of Indian culture into an Anglo tale, not only in breakout musical numbers but also in the cultural issues it raises. Case in point is the conflict between the tourist-driven "India without all the Indians" that Lalita decries and the "real" India she glorifies. But these sorts of issues are never really explored or even mined for their full comedic potential.

Trying to mesh two different genres is a tough enough job, but if a film can at least do both genres well, it can be entertaining if not coherent. The problem here is that Bride and Prejudice can do neither genre consistently well, much less mesh the two, so it ends up being, like its title, cute but ultimately meaningless.

The DVD adds deleted scenes, extended songs, several making-of documentaries and interviews, and a commentary track.

Extreme prejudice.



Facts and Figures

Run time: 122 mins

In Theaters: Friday 11th February 2005

Box Office USA: $6.5M

Budget: $7M

Distributed by: Miramax Films

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 2 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 64%
Fresh: 85 Rotten: 47

IMDB: 6.2 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director:

Starring: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Lalita Bakshi, as William Darcy, as Balraj, as Johnny Wickham, as Kiran, as Catherine Darcy, as Manorama Bakshi, as Chaman Bakshi, Namrata Shirodkar as Jaya Bakshi, Sonali Kulkarni as Chandra Lamba, as Mr. Kohli, as Maya Bakshi, as Lakhi Bakshi, as Georgina 'Georgie' Darcy, as Herself

Contactmusic


Links


New Movies

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

After the thunderous reception for J.J. Abrams' Episode VII: The Force Awakens two years ago,...

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Like the 2015 original, this comedy plays merrily with cliches to tell a silly story...

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

There's a somewhat contrived jauntiness to this blending of fact and fiction that may leave...

Ferdinand Movie Review

Ferdinand Movie Review

This animated comedy adventure is based on the beloved children's book, which was published in...

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Director Dave McCary makes a superb feature debut with this offbeat black comedy, which explores...

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

A dramatisation of the real-life clash between tennis icons Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs,...

Shot Caller Movie Review

Shot Caller Movie Review

There isn't much subtlety to this prison thriller, but it's edgy enough to hold the...

Advertisement
The Disaster Artist Movie Review

The Disaster Artist Movie Review

A hilariously outrageous story based on real events, this film recounts the making of the...

Stronger Movie Review

Stronger Movie Review

Based on a true story about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, this looks like one...

Only the Brave Movie Review

Only the Brave Movie Review

Based on a genuinely moving true story, this film undercuts the realism by pushing its...

Wonder Movie Review

Wonder Movie Review

This film may be based on RJ Palacio's fictional bestseller, but it approaches its story...

Happy End  Movie Review

Happy End Movie Review

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke isn't known for his light touch, but rather for hard-hitting, award-winning...

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Seemingly from out of nowhere, this film generates perhaps the biggest smile of any movie...

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

A Victorian thriller with rather heavy echoes of Jack the Ripper, this film struggles to...

Advertisement
Artists
Actors
    Filmmakers
      Artists
      Bands
        Musicians
          Artists
          Celebrities
             
              Artists
              Interviews