Bride and Prejudice

Director: Gurinder Chadha
Staring: Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson

The Jane Austin classic, “Pride and Prejudice,” is made into a movie to fit modern audiences, with a little Bollywood style thrown in. It is made by Indians, and if you have ever seen a Bollywood movie before, you can suspect that there will be a lot of dancing and singing thrown in. You can enjoy a classic, get a douse of Indian culture, and pick up on some hip dance moves all in one! Sounds like a deal to me. I would, however, recommend knowing the traditional story line before seeing it. You will miss a lot if you don’t.

I went to see this movie on opening day with my mom. It was only playing in one theater way up in North Phoenix. Now we’re seeing it move all over the state. I suspect that it will attract an almost cult-like fan base–like Napoleon Dynamite.

The Bakshi family lives in a small Indian community. Middle class, four daughters, and aging parents. Balraj Bingley, an Indian businessman made rich in the UK (pronounced: yoo’-kee), is coming back home for a traditional wife, which everyone hopes will be Jaya Bakshi (Eldest Bakshi daughter–corresponds with Pride and Prejudice’s “Jane”). Mr. Bingley brings his rich American friend Will Darcy with him. Will Darcy is there on business; he owns a hotel chain and hopes to add a local hotel to his venue. Mr. Bingley’s snide sister is also with him.

The Bingley/Darcy entourage needs to travel south for business. They invite Jaya Bakshi and her sister Lilita Bakshi to go with them. While Jaya and Bingley are off doing something, Lilita and Will get to know each other. They make sharp remarks to each other about the hotel that Will is wanting to buy. They clearly don’t like each other. Lilita meets Johnny Wickham on the beach, and takes a liking to him. Then the Bakshi girls go home and Bingley/Darcy go back to America (pronounced: Amree-ka).

Enter Mr. Kholi (Austin equivalent: Mr. Collins). He is pretty gross and repugnant, and he is visiting from L.A. to get a traditional bride from his home town. He is also a business man made wealthy in America. Johnny Wickham is also in town, and Lilita invites him to stay at the Bakshi house. Mr. Kholi tries to lure Lilita in by using his wealth and the possibilities of living in “Amreeka.” She turns him down, but is determined to go home with a wife. He take’s Lilita’s best friend.

The whole Bakshi family is invited to go to the wedding in LA, and Mr. Kholi sends them the tickets. Will Darcy also lives in LA. The wedding is being held at one of his hotels. He is much nicer in his home town and takes Lilita on a tour of Los Angeles. Lilita falls in love with this side of Darcy, and upon seeing one of his hotels, she is in heaven. At the wedding, she is introduced to his sister, mother, and fiancé. He tries to explain that she is not actually his fiancé, but the woman that his mother wants him to marry.

The Bakshi family heads home, but they have some downtime in London. Surprise, surprise, Will Darcy is on the same flight as they are, only in first class. Because he now in love with Lilita(she lost interest at the wedding), he volunteers to trade seats with Mrs. Bakshi, so he and Lilita can sit by each other on the long flight to the YooKee.

Lucky (the youngest Bakshi daughter) secretly meets up and takes off with Johnny Wickham. When Will Darcy finds out about this, he and Lilita go off on a search around London to find them. Darcy and Wickham have a bad past together.

Back in India, the Bakshi family moons around during the rainy season. Then, surprise! Mr. Bingley returns to seal an engagement with Jaya. Will Darcy is still in love with Lilita, and came back to see her. Her love for him is renewed, and they too are engaged. True to the classic story, there is a double wedding, but in India.