One of my best movie going trips was joining some of the Jane Austen fans from The Republic of Pemberley and taking my younger sister along with me to see 2004's Bride & Prejudice in a Manhattan theater.
My sister is not a Jane Austen person(she likes to jokingly call many of my BBC related shows "British comas"); she was into Bollywood films at the time and I like to think she got a little Austen knowledge out of that viewing.
The movie is a retelling of Austen's Pride and Prejudice, set at first in modern day India where the four Bakshi daughters(yes, Kitty is not included but Maya's cobra dance more than makes up for that!) are, in their fretful mother's opinion, in need of husbands.
For one, Darcy has a touch of the Ugly American about him as he finds the customs of the country out of date with some snarky encouragement by Balraj's sister Kiran(Indira Varma, who is a top rate Miss Bingley indeed!). While he's not malicious, his attitude is rather off-putting to Lalita for good reason.
Despite trying to keep the peace for her sister's sake during a resort outing, Lalita can't resist challenging Darcy on his presumptions about her country and culture:
This potential triangle breaks up when Lalita and Jaya come home to find their mother getting all of her girls ready for a visit from their distant relative Mr. Kohli(Nitin Ganatra, a very memorable Mr. Collins for sure!).
Since her mother practically has Jaya married off already, all of Kohli's romantic intentions are focused on Lalita which leads to my favorite song "No Life Without Wife". It's fitting for this number to be set here, not long after Darcy's list of attributes for the ideal woman have been discussed. As her sisters gleefully mock her supposed future with Kohli in America, Lalita gets the chance to express what she finds to be the perfect man for her:
With her family invited to attend Kohli's wedding in America, she meets Darcy on a connecting flight to London and then in LA, where the two of them finally start to kindle a spark of romance.
That brings us to "Take Me to Love", a tune that Lalita first begins at home when Wickham is no longer in the picture but upon seeing the better side of Darcy, the song is refitted nicely.
There's tons of lovelorn imagery in the musical montage for this number that includes running through jet sprayed water and a stroll on the beach where a choir serenades the dreamy eyed couple:
Director Gurinder Chadha(first known to many for Bend It Like Beckham) is clearly a major Austen lover and by blending the musical style of Bollywood with this iconic tale, she brings many realms together for some good old fashioned romcom joy.
That's what struck me during this rewatch;how much joy is pouring off of the screen, from the elaborate dance number at the start of the story to the rollicking show stopper "Marriage Has Come to Town". While you can argue that Henderson's Darcy is not much of a match for Rai's Lalita, they do make a good couple towards the end and by then, the music rightfully takes over.
Joy is something that's been in short supply these days and the main reason that I started this new summer series in the first place. While we do have to keep an alert eye out for the problems hitting us hard right now, taking a break for some sort of relief is necessary and I hope that these silly little posts of mine are helping to make that happen.
Thank you all for attending this film food festival and perhaps we'll do it again some time. For now, let us share in the musical joy of love:
1 comment:
I am always up for a great romcom. I enjoyed this modernization of P&P set in India. Thanks for sharing your insights, Tara.
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