''Oh my god, you still speak hindi??'', asked one of my friends when I first visited India after moving to Italy. My reply...''Just because I live abroad, doesn't mean I have to forget my culture and language''. I'm sure you must be wondering how the heck this is related to Bride and Prejudice, let me assure you that I will get to the point...sooner or later!
Today, when I finally got my hands on this movie, I remembered the reply I'd given to my friend. Sometimes, the stereotypes of Indians shown in movies aren't exactly accurate...and there's a VERY thin line between joking WITH the people and joking AT the people. In Bride and Prejudice, this thin line seems to have become paper thin!!!
The story about a ''typical'' family of four daughters where a ''typical'' Punjabi mother is anxious to get all 4 daughters married off to well-off eligible bachelors. In such a scenario, an american, William Darcy, enters the life of the second daughter and things go for a toss.
Among the MANY obnoxious and unnecessary characters in the movie, the characters of three out of four daughters, the mother, William Darcy and the Cheap NRI are the best defined:
Lalita: Played by Aishwarya Rai, is the second daughter in the family, who is confident, outspoken and determined. She has her little ''tiffs'' with Darcy ( Martin Anderson) Playing the lead role, Ash simply REFUSES to acknowledge the fact that there are other actors sharing the frame with her as well!!
This time more than EVER, she's completely wooden and plastic. I mean, the scene when she finds out that Darcy had been instrumental in the break-up her sister's wedding, she could have been a LOT more expressive than just walking away in a manly fashion and throwing her feet on the ground as if she's walking on Jupiter! The character of Lalita itself was left a little vague:
a) If she's so determined and sure of who she likes and who she doesn't why would she just suddenly give up the person ( a friend whom she met in Goa, from UK), totally forget about him and start romancing with Darcy? That so doesn't gel with the rest the characteristics!
b) What happened to her wanting to stay in India??
c) Can't she see her sister literally falling over the ''friend'' in her house??
d) If she DOES agree with arranged Marriages, why does she create just a havoc whenever her mom talks about getting her married???
Jaya:Namrata Shirodkar plays the eldest daughter who's under pressure of getting married quickly so her sisters can be married off too! She plays a sweet, sensible, timid girl, someone who's just found her true love. Namrata does a very very good job in portraying the character and she fits the role to the T! Her scenes with her fiancé have a very realistic feel to them and the viewer ( at least I did) gets more interested in her love story than following Lalita and Darcy's love story.
Lakhi: Played by Peeya Chaudhary, this is the character of the third daughter who is chirpy, happy-go-lucky, typical teenagerish sorts! Her character really adds cuteness to the film and even though its not a very significant role, Peeya Chaudhary leaves a mark!!
The Mother: Nadira Babbar plays the over-aggressive mom who's bent upon getting her daughters married!! Now, this is one heck of a comic role!! The mother's plight of typical motherly fears are indeed very well portrayed and Nadira Babbar is astonishingly perfect in this role!!!
William Darcy: Martin Anderson is the arrogant, apprehensive and umm...surprised American who visits Amritsar with his best friend ( who likes Jaya) and just when he's taken aback by the life in India, he's also exposed to the depth of the culture and the family values. Now, an American actor trying to play a typical bollywoodish kind of role requires a lot of skill! The guy is able to dance, lip-sync, do a fight scene, romance with Ash and he does it with elan!!! He does pretty well acting like the confused foreigner trying to understand India.
There are tons of other characters in the movie, which are less significant but worth a mention.The Father ( Anupam Kher...who gets no scope whatsover), Balraj ( Jaya's fiance), the crazy NRI, Mr.Kohli, Johny ( the guy Lalita likes), etc etc.
The rest are fine, but the character of the NRI is such a stereotype that it loses its humour after a while, and left me wondering to what extent can something be exaggerated!! I've been living outside India for 5 years and have NEVER come across an NRI like that!! So, what the heck was that???? Another WIERD scene was the Cobra Dance of the youngest sister...i mean, maybe its just me, but what was ''attempted'' to be shown there, that indians dance like that when a guest comes to visit??? Very superficial indeed!
Gurinder Chaddha, who directed a brilliant, to say the least, Bend it Like Beckam, simply fails this time round. In BILB, she was able to demonstrate the stereotypes on Indian society without maligning them, but this time, the Indian culture has just been left to me laughed at! Not a very tasteful display of Indians i'll say.
The Music of the movie is also not That well churned out. I've only heard the hindi lyrics, which don't quite fit the music. The best songs of the lost would be Balle Balle and Tumse Kahen Ya. Balle Balle having a traditional Punjabi touch is probably not going to be appreciated everywhere, in any case Sonu Nigam's singing is flawless once again! No life without wife is another interesting song, with some tiklish lyircs!
Movies like Bride and Prejudice have not just a box office report to attend to but they also have a responsibility towards Indian portrayal over the world. For example, this movie has been released in Italy, and I can only Imagine the kinds of questions that my friends are going to ask me after watching it.
''Do all Indians really ride tractors??''
''Do you have to ride elephants on your wedding?''
''Does everyone do a snake dance in India?''
''Does the mom really have to check the girl's dress before presenting them to a guy?''
And the most common and irritating question, '' Is your mom going to find a guy like Mr.Kohli for you too???''
Gimme a break!!! Indian culture has a lot more to it than just that, but being around foriegners 24/7, i'm at least 90% positive that this is what's going to be understood. Indian culture has a lot more depth and meaning to it than the movie shows. People in India have a twisted view about NRIs and people abroad have an even more twisted view about India, and movies like this just twist the views further!! I just hope, somebody is sensible enough to make another class apart movie like Bend It Like Beckam or even a Lagaan and show the world the true essence of India and Indians!!!
I'm hoping, I hope you are too!!!
Till then, its Neha signing off with a great BIG wish to all the readers...Wishing everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
The comments sections awaits!!!
