Posted: 03/06/2005

Bride and Prejudice

(2005)

by Hank Yuloff

Gurinder Chadha’s latest another fine example of Bollywood-meets-Hollywood.

A couple of years ago, The Guru came out, I told you that it takes a certain sense of humor to appreciate the Bollywood mind frame. And with all fairy tale/musicals you have to allow for a certain amount of buying into the premise. Let’s start with that premise for Bride and Prejudice, the follow up to director Gurinder Chadha’s Bend it Like Beckham. We also use Jane Austen’s novel where a mother is eager to find husbands for here five unmarried daughters.

In this case, instead of Mrs. Bennet, it is Mrs. Bakshi (Nadira Babbar) who is desperately attempting to find matches for her daughters. My problem right off the bat is that it just does not seem like it would be so difficult considering how unbelievably HOT the daughters all are. Let’s face it, it isn’t as if they are all the nighttime version of Princess Fiona from Shrek. Let’s say that Bollywood has the same problem as Hollywood when it comes to “The Image Must Be Perfect” axiom. But as I said, buy in is important.

We open as Will Darcy (a very rich American son of a hotel chain family) arrives in a backward small town in India with his college friend Balraj Bingley and Balraj’s sister. The brother and sister are there for a wedding and Balraj figures its also a good time to find a traditional Indian girl to be his bride. Darcy is along because he is checking out an Indian site for a hotel. The wedding takes place in the first couple of days but they are spending two weeks. Seeeeeeeeems like enough time to fall in love. Thankfully, everyone has, in Darcy’s honor I am guessing, decided to speak English for the duration of the film.

The main love story is between Darcy (Martin Henderson) and the second eldest daughter, Lalita Bakshi. A fast series of misunderstandings and built in stereotypes—hence the Prejudice part of the title) and we wonder how these two crazy kids will EVER get together. But because of the Bride part of it, we KNOW they will. Now it’s just a matter of getting through the dance numbers, the other bad boy pretender, the ugly and obnoxious suitors, and like the third act of every sitcom, finding out that the silly misunderstandings could have been avoided WEEKS ago if we had only learned to not be so prejudiced. What a great message.

Henderson (Torque, The Ring) did NOTHING for me. He might as well have been a cardboard cut out for all the emotion I got from him. What a complete waste. Lalita is played by former Miss World (1994) Aishwarya Rai. She, on the other hand, is wonderful. Rai has been modeling since the 9th grade and though she wanted to be an architect, acting became her calling. She is famous everywhere but in the US (was listed in Time magazine as one of 100 most influential people in the world) but has several American films coming out in the next two years.

Also worth noting is Nadira Babbar’s performance as Mrs. Bakshi. Very amusing without going over the top, unlike Marsha Mason who plays Will’s mother. What a horrible part to have to play and poorly done it was. The only American who seems somewhat watchable is Wills sister Darcy, played by Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls). Lalita’s father is played by Anupam Kher, who also played the father in Bend it Like Beckham.

It is the colors, the music, the dancing, the peek into Indian culture, Ms. Rai and the other Indian actors make this movie well worth the investment of time.

Hank Yuloff is our senior staff reviewer in Los Angeles.

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