Swap stately corsets for saris and Punjabi salwar-kameez, replace the piano duples with bhangra beats, convert the ballroom gatherings into lavish Punjabi weddings, and you have the 19th century Jane Austen novel transmuted into a big fat Bollywood wedding - 'Bride and Prejudice'.
To say that the movie is a just adaptation of the novel would be an overwhelming understatement. The subtlety of the characters, the situations and the undercurrents of suppressed emotions in Austen's masterpiece have been conveniently chucked out for the merriment and Bolly-ho in the movie. But still, 'Bride and Prejudice' turns out as an entertaining fare that offers Indian curry in British cuisine.
The decorous William Darcy of Austen's novel becomes a suave American businessman Will Darcy who meets Lalita (Elizabeth Bennet of novel) at a wedding in Amritsar, her Indian hometown. The brief encounter leaves them with mixed feelings for each other. She thinks of him as an arrogant imperialist snob while he sees her as a coddled village girl, who knows little of the world beyond her hometown.
Adding to their natural repulsion is Darcy's half-brother Wickham (Daniel Gillies) who slanders Darcy behind his back and messes with Lalita's affections.
But the amazing destiny of Lalita and Darcy brings them together in more flirtatious encounters (set across different locations from Britain to LA) before love sprouts and demands fulfillment.
Chadha has deftly translated certain elements of Austen's book into her movie - for instance the clucking matchmaker mother Mrs Bakshi, played by Nadira Babbar, who has delivered an incredible performance.
Aishwarya Rai cannot act in English. It is quite visible for any acute viewer to see that she does not internally identify with her English dialogues on an emotive level, but simply mouths them with proper pronunciation and intonation. This is what makes her character Lalita shallow in the film and this is also the reason for her lack of chemistry with Martin Hendersen.
Namrata Shirodkar and other actresses play their part with ease.
In a nutshell, 'Bride and Prejudice' is Austen's story transmuted into an all-singing, all dancing Bollywood tale that is not without its stereotypical gloss and gaudiness.
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