CATRIONA PAUL at the Movies.

BASED ON the Jane Austen classic, this Anglo-Indian remake trades England for India, throws subtlety out the window and imports Bollywood splendour – complete with Miss World (Aishwarya Rai) in the lead role and singing and dancing galore. The result is a visually stunning but hollow film whose lead characters fail to engage anything other than the aesthetic sense.
 
Lalita Bakshi is the second eldest daughter in a family of girls. Her mother’s chief mission is to get her daughters married and she sees a great prospect for her eldest, Jaya (Namrata Shirodkar) in the person of Mr. Balraj (Naveen Andrews), a visting lawyer from London. Balraj is accompanied by his snooty sister (Indira Varma) and by his old friend Will Darcy (Martin Henderson), a LA-based hotel magnate.

The Bakshi girls meet the delectable bachelors at a wedding in Amritsar but Darcy makes condescending comments about India and Lalita goes off in a pretend huff. More pretend huffs follow in Goa, London and LA before a predictable happy end comes into view.

The song and dance numbers are entertaining but don’t distract from the dull script. Some reprieve from the tedium of watching beautiful faces feign animation is offered by the antics of Mr Kohli (Nitin Ganatra) – an unappealing LA accountant in search of a wife – and Lalita’s younger sister (Meghna Kothari), but their behaviour is more comedy sketch than integral aspect of the film.

Bride and Prejudice is directed by Gurinder Chadha whose most popular work to date is Bend it Like Beckham. Whilst the earlier film focussed on Anglo-Asian culture and met with a favourable critical response, this latest work seems a little confused. Chadha imported many features of Bollywood but also wanted to let the audience know that she was in on the joke.

Austen’s original had complexity and depth, wit and fizz, but Bride and Prejudice runs the risk of being boring. By trying to stay wise to Western audiences, Chadha fails to deliver the joy of Bollywood or the appeal of Austen.

BRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Selected cinemas.

Director: Gurinder Chadha
Writers: based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, adapted by Paul Mayeda Berges
Cast: Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, Daniel Gillies, Naveen Andrews, Namrata Shirodkar, Indira Varma, Nitin Chandra Ganatra
Certificate: 12A
Running Time: 112
Country: UK / USA
 

© Catriona Paul, 2004