Bride and Prejudice
Encyclopedia
Bride and Prejudice is a 2004 romantic musical film
directed by Gurinder Chadha
. The screenplay by Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges
is a Bollywood
-style adaptation of Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
. It was filmed primarily in English
, with some Hindi
and Punjabi
dialogue. The film released in the
United States on 11 February 2005 and was well-received by film critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes
reports that 81% of 32 professional critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.8 out of 10. This film was the debut of R&B singer Grammy-winner Ashanti as an actress.
. Some character names remain the same, while others are changed slightly, using localized names with similar pronunciation. (Such as Lalita for Elizabeth.) Set in Amritsar
, the story follows Lalita Bakshi, a young woman living with her doting father and helping him run the family farming enterprise; her mother, who is determined to marry off her daughters to respectable and wealthy men; and her three sisters, Jaya, Maya, and Lakhi. At a friend's wedding, Lalita meets Will Darcy, a handsome and wealthy American working in the family hotel business, who has arrived in Amritsar with his long-time friend, the barrister
Balraj, and Balraj's sister Kiran.
Events in the movie roughly parallel those in the novel, punctuated by "Bollywood
" style song and dance numbers: Darcy resists his attraction to Lalita, who considers him conceited, arrogant, and intolerant toward India and Indian culture. At various parties and gatherings, Mrs Bakshi's mindless chatter, Maya's kitchy dancing, and Lakhi's uninhibited flirting astonish Darcy and his friends, and mortify Jaya and Lalita. Balraj and Jaya fall quickly in love, but misunderstandings and interference by others drag out their courtship. Lalita meets and is attracted to "Johhny Wickham," Darcy's former friend, and he validates her low opinion of Darcy. Mr Kholi, a rich, crass, clumsy, and ostentatious Americanized relative, proposes to Lalita; after she turns him down, her best friend Chandra agrees to marry him, much to Lalita's confusion and consternation.
When youngest sister Lakhi tries to run off with Wickham, Darcy and Lalita find the couple and separate them before he can ruin her life, as he almost did to Will's young sister Georgie.
Ultimately, back in India for Jaya and Balraj's wedding, Darcy surprises and wins over Lalita by joining in the traditional drumming, showing that he is learning to appreciate Indian culture. The film ends with the double wedding of Jaya to Balraj and Lalita to Darcy, with the two couples riding on elephants down the streets of Amritsar. They lived happily ever after.
, Stoke Park Club
, Turville
, and Cobstone Windmill
in Buckinghamshire
, and Southall
, Somerset House
, Little Venice, the London Eye
, and the National Film Theatre in London
. Other locations used for the film include the Golden Temple
of Amritsar
, the beaches of Goa
, the Grand Canyon
, the Walt Disney Concert Hall
in Los Angeles, and Santa Monica Beach
.
Ashanti
sings "Take Me to Love" and "Touch My Body" in the film. According to director Gurinder Chadha in "making-of" extras on the DVD release, Ashanti's appearance in the film is an homage to the tradition of a celebrity making a cameo appearance to sing an "item number
, a song that has no direct involvement in the plot in Bollywood films.
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
directed by Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha , OBE, is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in the United Kingdom. She is best known for the hit films Bhaji on the Beach , Bend It Like Beckham , Bride and Prejudice and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging...
. The screenplay by Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges
Paul Mayeda Berges
Paul Mayeda Berges is an American screenwriter and director.Of Japanese ancestry, Berges graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1990. He has collaborated with his wife, British-Indian director Gurinder Chadha, on a number of films...
is a Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
-style adaptation of Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England...
by Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
. It was filmed primarily in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, with some Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
dialogue. The film released in the
United States on 11 February 2005 and was well-received by film critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 81% of 32 professional critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.8 out of 10. This film was the debut of R&B singer Grammy-winner Ashanti as an actress.
Plot
The plot of the movie is based on Austen′s novel Pride and PrejudicePride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England...
. Some character names remain the same, while others are changed slightly, using localized names with similar pronunciation. (Such as Lalita for Elizabeth.) Set in Amritsar
Amritsar
Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
, the story follows Lalita Bakshi, a young woman living with her doting father and helping him run the family farming enterprise; her mother, who is determined to marry off her daughters to respectable and wealthy men; and her three sisters, Jaya, Maya, and Lakhi. At a friend's wedding, Lalita meets Will Darcy, a handsome and wealthy American working in the family hotel business, who has arrived in Amritsar with his long-time friend, the barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
Balraj, and Balraj's sister Kiran.
Events in the movie roughly parallel those in the novel, punctuated by "Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
" style song and dance numbers: Darcy resists his attraction to Lalita, who considers him conceited, arrogant, and intolerant toward India and Indian culture. At various parties and gatherings, Mrs Bakshi's mindless chatter, Maya's kitchy dancing, and Lakhi's uninhibited flirting astonish Darcy and his friends, and mortify Jaya and Lalita. Balraj and Jaya fall quickly in love, but misunderstandings and interference by others drag out their courtship. Lalita meets and is attracted to "Johhny Wickham," Darcy's former friend, and he validates her low opinion of Darcy. Mr Kholi, a rich, crass, clumsy, and ostentatious Americanized relative, proposes to Lalita; after she turns him down, her best friend Chandra agrees to marry him, much to Lalita's confusion and consternation.
When youngest sister Lakhi tries to run off with Wickham, Darcy and Lalita find the couple and separate them before he can ruin her life, as he almost did to Will's young sister Georgie.
Ultimately, back in India for Jaya and Balraj's wedding, Darcy surprises and wins over Lalita by joining in the traditional drumming, showing that he is learning to appreciate Indian culture. The film ends with the double wedding of Jaya to Balraj and Lalita to Darcy, with the two couples riding on elephants down the streets of Amritsar. They lived happily ever after.
Cast
Names in parentheses are the characters in the original Austen novel.- Aishwarya RaiAishwarya RaiAishwarya Rai Bachchan is an Indian film actress. She worked as a model before starting her acting career, and ultimately won the Miss World pageant in 1994...
as Lalita Bakshi (Elizabeth BennetElizabeth BennetElizabeth Bennet, later Elizabeth Darcy, is the protagonist in the 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. She is often referred to as Eliza or Lizzy by her friends and family...
) - Martin HendersonMartin HendersonMartin Henderson is a New Zealand actor, well known to American audiences for his starring role in the ABC TV series Off the Map, while remaining known in his home country for his teenage role as Stuart Neilson in the soap opera Shortland Street.-Life and career:Henderson was born in Auckland, New...
as William "Will" Darcy (Fitzwilliam DarcyFitzwilliam DarcyFitzwilliam Darcy, generally referred to as Mr Darcy, is one of the two central characters in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. He is an archetype of the aloof romantic hero, and a romantic interest of Elizabeth Bennet, the novel's protagonist...
) - Daniel GilliesDaniel Gillies-Early life:Gillies was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to a pediatrician father. He was raised in New Zealand and went to Southwell School and the Hamilton Boys' High School.-Acting career:...
as Johnny Wickham (Mr. George Wickham) - Naveen AndrewsNaveen AndrewsNaveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
as Mr. Balraj (Mr. Bingley) - Anupam KherAnupam KherAnupam Kher is an Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 400 films and 100 plays. Though mainly appearing in Bollywood films, he has had roles in some films from other nations as well...
as Mr. Bakshi (Mr. Bennet) - Nadira BabbarNadira BabbarNadira Babbar is an Indian theatre actress, director and an actress in Hindi cinema, who is the recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2001. A leading name in Indian theatre, Nadira founded a Mumbai-based theatre group called Ekjute, a known name in Hindi theatre in 1981...
as Mrs. Bakshi (Mrs. Bennet) - Namrata ShirodkarNamrata Shirodkar- Early life and family :Born on 22 January 1972 in a moderate Marathi-speaking family, Namrata Shirodkar is an Aquarian. She used to live in Khar, a suburb in Mumbai. Her sister is the actress Shilpa Shirodkar...
as Jaya Bakshi (Jane Bennet) - Indira VarmaIndira VarmaIndira Varma is an English actress. Her first major role was in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love. She has gone on to appear in the television series Rome and Human Target.-Early life and background:...
as Kiran Balraj (Caroline Bingley) - Sonali KulkarniSonali KulkarniSonali Kulkarni is an Indian actress. She was born in Pune. She has majorly worked in Marathi and Hindi films. She is famous for her role in Dil Chahta Hai.-Career:...
as Chandra Lamba (Charlotte Lucas) - Nitin GanatraNitin GanatraNitin Ganatra is a Kenyan born British actor. He is known internationally as Prince Pondicherry in the Tim Burton film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He also appears in the Gurinder Chada film Bride and Prejudice as Kholi Saab and The Mistress of Spices as Haroun...
as Mr. Kholi (Mr. Collins) - Meghna KothariMeghna KothariMeghna Kothari is an Indian actress. She has acted in Bollywood movies and in Gurinder Chadha's film Bride and Prejudice. Her debut film was Prem Agan with Fardeen Khan.-External links:...
as Maya Bakshi (Mary Bennet) - Peeya Rai ChowdharyPeeya Rai ChowdharyPeeya Rai Chowdhary is an Indian actress married to model Shayan Munshi, but currently separated from him. She played Lakhi in Gurinder Chadha's Bride and Prejudice, Rita in the movie The Bong Connection and played "Kiran" in the TV show Hip Hip Hooray....
as Lakhi Bakshi (Lydia Bennet) - Alexis BledelAlexis BledelAlexis Bledel is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Rory Gilmore in the television series Gilmore Girls and Lena Kaligaris in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.-Early life:Bledel was born Kimberly Alexis Bledel in Houston, Texas...
as Georgina "Georgie" Darcy (Georgiana Darcy) - Marsha MasonMarsha MasonMarsha Mason is an American actress and television director.She received four Academy Award nominations as Best Actress for her performances in Cinderella Liberty, The Goodbye Girl, Chapter Two, and Only When I Laugh. She is also known for starring in the 1986 film Heartbreak Ridge.-Life:Mason was...
as Catherine Darcy (Lady Catherine de Bourgh) - Harvey VirdiHarvey VirdiHarvey Virdi is an actress well known as a veteran of British-Asian theatre.Her theatre credits include When We are Married, Romeo and Juliet, Square Circle, and Playboy of the Asian World , Airport 2000 and Jatinder Verma's production of Exodus...
as Mrs. Lamba (Lady Lucas) - Georgina ChapmanGeorgina ChapmanGeorgina Chapman is an English fashion designer and actress. Chapman, alongside Keren Craig, an actress and a former model, are the co-founders of fashion label Marchesa.-Biography:...
as Anne (Anne de Bourgh)
Soundtracks
| Title | Singer(s) |
|---|---|
| Balle Balle | Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam is an Indian playback singer whose songs have been featured in numerous Hindi movies, as well as films in Assamese, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi and Kannada language. He has also released numerous Indi-pop albums and acted in a few Hindi feature films... , Gayatri Iyer Gayatri Iyer Gayatri Iyer is an Indian playback singer, primarily in Bollywood. She landed up with the part of Princess Anjuli in the West End of London musical production of M. M. Kaye's The Far Pavilions, which opened in the summer of 2007.... |
| Tumse Kahen Ya, Hum Na Kahen | Udit Narayan Udit Narayan -Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B... , Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik is an Indian singer who is ranked among the best Hindi playback singers of all time. She is a seven-time winner of the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award as well as a two-time recipient of the prestigious National Film Awards... |
| No Life Without Wife | Gayatri Iyer Gayatri Iyer Gayatri Iyer is an Indian playback singer, primarily in Bollywood. She landed up with the part of Princess Anjuli in the West End of London musical production of M. M. Kaye's The Far Pavilions, which opened in the summer of 2007.... , Nisha Mascarenhas, Sowmya Rao |
| Payal Bajake | Gayatri Iyer Gayatri Iyer Gayatri Iyer is an Indian playback singer, primarily in Bollywood. She landed up with the part of Princess Anjuli in the West End of London musical production of M. M. Kaye's The Far Pavilions, which opened in the summer of 2007.... |
| Lo Shaadi Aayi | Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik is an Indian singer who is ranked among the best Hindi playback singers of all time. She is a seven-time winner of the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award as well as a two-time recipient of the prestigious National Film Awards... , Kunal Ganjawala Kunal Ganjawala Kunal Ganjawala is popularly known as Bollywood playback singer. But he also did a very well contribution to Kanada film industry as well. Kunal began his career by singing jingles. He came to limelight with the song 'Bheege Honth Tere' form film Murder in 2004. It was his first biggest hit... , Anu Malik Anu Malik Anu Malik , born Anwar Sardaar Malik, is a famous music director in the Hindi film industry. Son of veteran music director Sardar Malek, Anu Malik made his debut as a music composer in the year 1977. After a considerable period of struggle, the 90's welcomed Anu with hits like 'Phir Teri Kahani... |
| Tumse Kahen Ya, Hum Na Kahen (sad) | Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik is an Indian singer who is ranked among the best Hindi playback singers of all time. She is a seven-time winner of the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award as well as a two-time recipient of the prestigious National Film Awards... |
| Dola Dola | Gayatri Iyer Gayatri Iyer Gayatri Iyer is an Indian playback singer, primarily in Bollywood. She landed up with the part of Princess Anjuli in the West End of London musical production of M. M. Kaye's The Far Pavilions, which opened in the summer of 2007.... |
| Tumse Kahen Ya, Hum Na Kahen | Instrumental |
Production
The film received funding from the UK Film Council with the stipulation that a majority of filming had to take place in the UK. Locations used include Halton HouseHalton House
thumb|right|300px|Halton House, BuckinghamshireHalton House is a country house situated in the Chiltern Hills above the village of Halton in Buckinghamshire, England. It was built for Alfred de Rothschild between 1880 and 1883...
, Stoke Park Club
Stoke Park Club
Stoke Park is a historic estate in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire. The Mansion is located amongst of parkland, lakes, historic gardens and monuments. The site is now a hotel, spa and country club....
, Turville
Turville
Turville is a village and civil parish within Wycombe district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, about five miles west of High Wycombe and five miles north of Henley-on-Thames....
, and Cobstone Windmill
Cobstone Windmill
Cobstone Mill was built around 1816 and is located in the civil parish of Ibstone in Buckinghamshire, England, and overlooks the village of Turville. It is sometimes referred to as Turville Windmill. It is a smock mill that replaced the original mill that had stood there since the 16th century...
in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, and Southall
Southall
Southall is a large suburban district of west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Yeading, Hayes, Hanwell, Heston, Hounslow, Greenford and Northolt...
, Somerset House
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, England, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The central block of the Neoclassical building, the outstanding project of the architect Sir William Chambers, dates from 1776–96. It...
, Little Venice, the London Eye
London Eye
The London Eye is a tall giant Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames, in London, England.It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually...
, and the National Film Theatre in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Other locations used for the film include the Golden Temple
Harmandir Sahib
The Harmandir Sahib also Darbar Sahib , also referred to as the Golden Temple, is a prominent Sikh gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab . Construction of the gurdwara was begun by Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh Guru, and completed by his successor, Guru Arjan Dev...
of Amritsar
Amritsar
Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
, the beaches of Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
, the Walt Disney Concert Hall
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Avenue, 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the...
in Los Angeles, and Santa Monica Beach
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
.
Ashanti
Ashanti (singer)
Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, actress, and model. She rose to fame in the early 2000s. Ashanti is most famous for her eponymous debut album, which featured the hit song "Foolish", and sold over 503,000 copies in its first week of release...
sings "Take Me to Love" and "Touch My Body" in the film. According to director Gurinder Chadha in "making-of" extras on the DVD release, Ashanti's appearance in the film is an homage to the tradition of a celebrity making a cameo appearance to sing an "item number
Item number
An item number or an item song, in Indian cinema, is a musical performance that has little to do with the film in which it appears, but is presented to showcase beautiful dancing women in very revealing clothes, to lend support to the marketability of the film...
, a song that has no direct involvement in the plot in Bollywood films.
Critical reception
The film opened to generally mixed to positive reviews. BBC noted that "Swapping corsets for saris, and polite pianoforte for the bhangra beat, director Gurinder Chadha reinvigorates Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice with fun and flamboyance".| Professional Reviews |
|---|
| IMDb link |
| BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... link |
| Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance... link |
| Hollywood.com link |
| USA Today USA Today USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003... link |
| Rolling Stone Rolling Stone Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J... link |
| reelviews.net link |
| The New York Times The New York Times Magazine The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors... link |
| ABC Australia Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster... link |