Bride & Prejudice [DVD]

I wasn't sure I wanted to watch this film at first. Both the title and the DVD box image are rather cheesy - but then I saw the trailer, and it convinced me that this would indeed be something worth watching. Thank goodness for that trailer because I absolutely adored this movie. Bride and Prejudice introduced me to a whole new world of cinematic magic. It's an explosion of vibrant colors, exotic settings, incredible music and dancing, and genuine pleasure. The story itself, combining romance, drama, as well as comedy, was also a treat in its own right. If you haven't guessed by the title, this film was inspired by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice - and I hope Austen enthusiasts will give this film a try, despite whatever misgivings they must surely have about it. I prefer to judge the film on its own merits, and I can't find anything not to like here. It's just exquisite.The film is primarily set in India. Will Darcy (Martin Henderson) has come with his friend Balraj (Lost's Naveen Andrews) to attend a wedding - and what a wedding it is. The whole town is in full celebration mode, and the song and dance numbers that come spinning at you in kaleidoscope fashion entrance you with their beauty and grace. Darcy is immediately taken with a gorgeous young lady named Lalita Bakshi (Aishwarya Rai), who just happens to be the sister of Balraj's object of affection. She comes from a family full of girls and a mother working tirelessly to find husbands for her older daughters - hopefully rich ones. Darcy and Lalita, despite a lot of meaningful eye contact, don't exactly hit it off, but that's largely Darcy's fault. Henderson really isn't very charismatic in the role, and he's not all that eloquent either. Lalita finds him to be a rude, arrogant American who looks down on her and everyone else in India. Darcy's also a bit of a wimp, seemingly incapable of standing up to his domineering mother's influence. She would never approve of an India-born daughter-in-law, of course - but Mrs. Bakshi wouldn't necessarily leap for joy at an American son-in-law, either (no matter how rich he is - and Darcy is filthy rich). Darcy does get to spend a little time with Lalita (but not because she wants to), but then an acquaintance of his shows up in the form of Johnny Wickham (Daniel Gillies) - why the son of Darcy's nanny suddenly shows up there in India is a complete mystery to me, though. Wickham's no good, but the ever-ineffectual Darcy won't tell Lalita why. As for Lalita, she has to fend off a new suitor in the form of an incredibly annoying fellow who has come back from America seeking a bride. It looks like Darcy and Lalita just weren't meant to be, as he returns to London and Lalita finds herself having to fend off a new suitor in the form of an incredibly annoying fellow who has come back from America seeking a bride. The world's a small place, though, and fate brings Darcy and Lalita together again in Los Angeles (where the Bakshi family has come to attend another wedding).The romance is quite predictable, but it does take interesting twists and turns along the way. I found it pretty compelling, but in many ways the love story is just the excuse to put on an awe-inspiring spectacle of music, dance, and incredible entertainment. I can't adequately describe the lavish nature of this film, except to say that it is a visual and auditory treat. I haven't had this much fun watching a film in a long time. Singing and dancing can start at the drop of a hat, and as often as not it doesn't end until the entire village has joined the fun. Lalita and her sisters are just wonderful, adorable characters (even the one who does the rather unforgettable Cobra Dance) - and Aishwarya Rai, the true star of this film, shines like the heavens on a dark night. I'll eagerly watch any movie she appears in. You won't have to worry about nodding off in the middle of this one - as Bride and Prejudice has the contagious energy to revive even the weariest of souls. Hollywood just doesn't make films like this; until you see this Bride and Prejudice, you probably won't even know what you're missing.

This movie is not really a true adaptation of the original "Pride and Prejudice" by Austen. The protagonists dont possess any of the qualities and personality traits exemplified in Austen's novel or seen in many good movie adaptations of the same. Martin Henderson, (Darcy's character), while handsome, felt more like a fixture in the room, detached from everything happening to him, reciting the worst, most insipid lines ever - which in turn did not make him very interesting and enticing like the original Darcy. He does the best he can with what he is given though. I read somewhere that Henderson was primarily chosen for his looks.Aishwarya Rai's character, Lalita, was not very likable. While very beautiful of course, she seemed snide, arrogant, and rude, which in turn painted her in an unsympathetic light. The character she is based on in the original "Pride and Prejudice" is a charming, quick witted and intelligent young lady instead of conceited and snide. She also behaved as if everyone owed her and was totally beneath her and she was merely tolerating them. This makes it hard for Dacry and Lalita to establish any kind of worthwhile chemistry or believable affection. All this is compounded, of course, by the fact that there wasnt much dialog and interaction between the two. No passionate exchanges, no intelligent conversation, none of that. Most of their exchanges consist of passing longing looks at each other across the room or she being offended about everything he says - even before he opens his mouth. When he then does the whole obligatory falling in love with her, it is just not very believable and convincing. The same is true for all characters really: they all just fall in love with each other or do things that are somewhat unsupported by their actions and even words. It gnaws on the believability of a movie and its characters and then ultimately determines its quality when people spontaneously exhibit feelings without any prelude.I also find Rai's "virgin Mary" routine annoying and tiresome. The fact that they never even exchange a kiss made this movie lack something - like the spice that is otherwise sprinkled all over. It could certainly have been done in a tasteful way so it is not offensive to Ms. Rai. I can understand that she doesnt want to film any steamy love scenes or even rumbling around in bed, but they could have kissed at least once and actually I have seen that happen in many Bollywood productions - even with her in it - so it is not like it is unheard of. The "Pride and Prejudice" movie with Keira Knightley has, in my opinion, one of the best on-screen kisses (in the end) ever: very tasteful and romantic. Too bad it is missing in this movie.Finally, it is strange to look at how most of the female characters were cast. Lalita is gorgeous and stands out among her sisters who all seem kind of bland and not very attractive - at least not compared to Lalita. In fact, they are caricatures and stereotypes of sorts and Lalita clearly stands out as the most sophisticated, intelligent, beautiful ingénue among them. That makes for predictability because of course Darcy falls in love with her. What else would he do? She is the most gorgeous woman in that village, if not nation. Aishwarya Rai was/is clearly the mega star and it appears as if all the other female leads were cast deliberately so as to not compete with and thus undermine Rai's presence. This movie is almost like a homage to her more than anything else.All that said, however, I must admit that I personally dont hold this movie to Austen's standards. It stands on its own merits and the "Pride and Prejudice" storyline seems to have been used in a very rudimentary way to make room for what the director really wanted to accomplish. This movie is a perfect mix between Bollywood and Hollywood. It is joyful, colorful and happy with a great ensemble and great photography. Despite some missing dialog and depth, Henderson and Rai have still chemistry which would have been sizzling if they actually did talk to each other more and she wasnt so reserved.I like Gurinder Chadha's style of mixing the cheerful and colorful and traditional with the modern - with added social commentary and comedy, but without it looking like she was pushing for some political message and drama. Life's too short to try to be too serious and the story in a well made movie like this is secondary. As Roger Ebert once said, "a good movie is not what it's about, it's HOW it is about it." This movie hit the nail on the head in terms of the how.

I would like to apologize for my last post on this movie. I do love it.

Brilliant film, sadly I bought it unaware it had subtitles

Great DVD

To watch

Update to my original post: The seller has contacted me about the poor quality of the movie as I reported below and has resolved the issue very promptly and to my satisfaction. I still rate the movie itself poorly but I rate the seller’s customer service as 5/5.Original post: The movie runs okay until around the middle of the movie, then it pauses and skips on it’s own and then get stuck in a loop that repeats the paused/skipped sections multiple times. To get past this I have to manually select the next following section. This happened in 4 places in the DVD. I know the DVD was advertised as Used/Good Condition and accordingly came unsealed, but I was expecting a better quality than what I got. Very disappointing.