I love Bollywood movies (“Lagaan” being my favorite thus far), so it was with great delight that I put in last year’s “Bride & Prejudice”, the Bollywood version of that most famous of Jane Austen stories. What a fun movie! I really enjoyed it, despite the fact that it borrowed on VERY Western movie elements and toned down the Bollywood a bit. The songs were VERY Western – one even featured R&B musical artist Ashanti doing her rendition of a Bollywood song. The cast was a mix of American, British and Indian actors, all doing well with their parts as Mr. Wickham, Mr. Bingley (portrayed by Lost’s Naveen Andrews), The Bennetts (or Bakshis in this movie), Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Collins (Kholi in this movie).
The director of this movie was the same woman that brought us “Bend It Like Beckham”, another great film featuring an international cast. In “Bride”, however, she creates lush, colorful scenes filled with fun and friovolity.
The star of the film, Aishwarya Rai, has been called the most beautiful woman in the world – and for good reason. She’s gorgeous. And she played the role of Elizabeth Bennett (Lalita Bakshi) brilliantly. I can see why she’s so revered in Bollywood.
My only objection to the movie was the fact that Darcy and Lalita didn’t share a kiss at the end of the movie. I mean, isn’t that the 2nd most favorite part of the A&E 6-hour Colin Firth-fest that we all know and love (the first favorite being when he jumps in the lake to try and forget about Lizzy)? However, upon doing some brief research on Miss Rai, it turns out that she has sworn she will NEVER kiss a man on screen EVER. So props to her on that, considering that she’s made DOZENS AND DOZENS of movies since her movie career began in India.
So if you like Jane Austen, if you like musicals, or if you like Bollywood, then definitely rent this movie. It’s a must see.
4 saris out of five (I’d have given it five if they had put Colin Firth in the Darcy role again instead of merely cute Martin Henderson).
