Bride and Prejudice

Several friends had recommended a while back that I see this film, a sort of Bollywood-esque take on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice which has long been a favorite novel of mine. On top of that, I really like Gurinder Chadha's other movie Bend it Like Beckham, so I was very excited to see this one. In much the same aesthetic vein, Bride and Prejudice is filled with beautiful Indian women and some really hot Indian men (as well as one not too shabby American dude). There are also a few repeat actors (the man and woman who played Jess' parents in the first Beckham movie). What I really loved about this particular movie were the song and dance numbers. It is in fact subtitled "The Bollywood Musical." I must admit that I haven't really seen any Bollywood films so I can't make any comparisons, but I'm definitely intrigued now after having seen this one. Being the flashy wardrobe ho that I am, I was immediately sucked in by the exquisite costumes and fabulous jewelry/accessories in the film. The singing was so-so (I thought the songs lacked stylistic variety), but the dancing was really great. Some excellent choreography (well, in my opinion anyway) and as usual it made me wish I could dance. I have no rhythm, even less grace, and next-to-no physical coordination. A few days ago I'd seen Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom for the first time, and watching this film so close on the heels of that one sent my mind into a tizzy creating all kinds of fantasies about moi dancing like some modern day Ginger Rogers in a tarted up costume with plenty of sparkle and pizazz. Needless to say, for those who've seen me struggle in vain to follow along with even the most basic fitness video routines, this is about as far-fetched as I can get. I am, in a word, physically spastic. No joke folks. (Violet knows the whole sad story, having seen a particularly inept effort of mine to follow along with a yoga video) But it's fun to dream I suppose.

The actual narrative of the film was a bit less than compelling. When I go to see an adaptation that attempts to do something new with an old text, I'm expecting really ingenious or exciting innovation. But Bride and Prejudice doesn't really do much more than situate the same story in a different context. There are nearly exact lines taken from the original text and when delivered they seem a bit stilted at times. And while it still works as an adaptation the film, I was hoping for something a bit more innovative I suppose. I think the song and dance numbers were what really redeemed the film for me and kept me interested. But the romance itself seemed to take a bit of a backseat, so that I didn't really feel the vibe all that strongly between the Darcy and Lalita. Similarly, while the film frequently suggests a familial prohibition against Lalita marrying a non-Indian man, she and Darcy end up getting married at the end with no comment from her family. This seemed a bit odd to me given that this had been implied as a major problem at several points in the movie. Thus, the resolution at the end seemed a bit hasty and unbelievable to me. But I would still say this is a cute movie worth a watch, especially for those hard-core Austen fans out there.