Jane Austen discussion

Anyone out there scene this one? I thought it was pretty good for a Bollywoodish film.

I loved it! The music, the silliness, the liberties they took with the story. It was so much fun!

I own the DVD and LOVE it. It's entertaining and I love to watch it with my girlfriends on Girl's Night Out.

maybe i should bring that for my girls night saturday - nice reminder!

I also love it! I love all the colours, songs, the modern indian fairy-tale spin on P&P, and I think the actors are perfect! (my only complaint is Ashwarya Rai, she plays such a bitchy Lizzie, always picking fights with Darcy, even when he is nice and kind!), but I think Martin Henderson is a great modern American Darcy, the Bkshi household is hilarious, the snake dance always gets me laughing, and Mr. Kohli :-D A very fun and enjoyable adaptation.

I totally forgot about the snake dance! OMG! Thanks for the recall:)

you forgot about the unforgettable snake dance? OMG! ;-D

so happy to see I am not the only one loving this movie....it really it the perfect girlnight movie. I love the snake dance, and Mr Kohli makes a great Mr Collins.

I received this movie as a gift and I, too, found it surprisingly fun. Yes there were a lot of liberties taken with it but it had a lot of the general themes that P&P has and wow those songs are catchy and the dancing is so much fun to watch!

"Marriage has come to town . . ." :P

I was listening to the soundtrack this morning:)

It was such an implausible plotline, I loved watching this movie, on television. The American Mr. Darcy comes across as really sweet and quite goodlooking. Stella mentioned something similar, I can't imagine him falling for Rai's Lizzie, she was so ill-tempered all the time.

Nausheen wrote: "It was such an implausible plotline, I loved watching this movie, on television. The American Mr. Darcy comes across as really sweet and quite goodlooking. Stella mentioned something similar, I can..."

Ditto Nausheen! The Bride&Prejudice Darcy was very nice and kind while Lalita was so obnoxious and always throwing a tantrum often for no reason at all! Poor Darcy stood there just blinking not understanding why she bit off his head.. but I liked Martin Henderson as a modern American Darcy, in my opinion everyone except Lalita was very well cast.

Yes, Rai was loud... kind of a glorified maid.I couldn't understand what she was so angry about, could it be she got paid less than dreamy Martin Henderson??/ hmm...Am I being bitchy...I'm sorry I'm not one of Rai's fans. The actor who does Bennett/Dad is hilarious, I think he has a few other such mainstream Bollywood films to his credit.

Oh and Stella, do you remember Lydia/the sister who develops a crush on Wickham/British Bloke guy, she was especially entertaining.

Yes, of course I remember Lydia! I liked all characters, in my opinion Mr. Bkshi, Mrs. Bakshi, the sister playing Mary (her snake dance and music playing! :-D), Mr. Kohli, the Indian Bingley and Jane and of course Darcy were all great, played their part perfectly, I even liked Caroline! :-) I'm not a Rai fan either, especially in this film! I thought she wasn't that beautiful and I ahted the way she played Lizzie. It is quite sad that the only low-point and disappointment of this adaptation was the actress who played Lizzie!

Yeah what a waste! She should just stick to the runway and fake smiles. Funnily, even I liked Caroline's lines, some had a ring of truth ;) The Indian Bingley was disappointing to look at though. I can't remember who did Jane.I vaguely recall the snake dance, ..wasn't that one where she wears green and sort of goes ::::::::attack mode on somebody. lol.

Oh, do you think it would be called a spoof in America (kind of like Date Movie, Scary Movie etc)? Or I guess not, cos a spoof would need all Jane Austen's books together!! Do I hear her turning in the grave? God Bless JA!

Nausheen wrote: "Yeah what a waste! She should just stick to the runway and fake smiles. Funnily, even I liked Caroline's lines, some had a ring of truth ;) The Indian Bingley was disappointing to look at though. I..."

Yes, that is the snake dance, with the attack :-D hehe, with my sisters we loved all the Indian dancing/singing, my sister's favourite song/dance was the opening Balle-balle, where the guys and the girls tease each other at the pre-wedding party :-)

Nausheen wrote: "Oh, do you think it would be called a spoof in America (kind of like Date Movie, Scary Movie etc)? Or I guess not, cos a spoof would need all Jane Austen's books together!! Do I hear her turning in..."

have you seen Clueless? that is the modern adaptation of Emma, it is very funny and very well done, which cannot be said about the teen movie Pride and Prejudice with Kim something and Orlando Seal, avoid that one at all costs!

Stella wrote: "Nausheen wrote: "It was such an implausible plotline, I loved watching this movie, on television. The American Mr. Darcy comes across as really sweet and quite goodlooking. Stella mentioned somethi..."
I thought the (post)colonial undertones were very well done. The American Mr Darcy seems innocent, but the point Lalita makes has to do with people like him who are clueless about a culture coming in and taking it over and "selling it" to make money. I thought it was quite brilliant, the way that theme is carried all the wall through, with Mr Collins representing those enamoured of the glitz and glitter. Of course, if you're not looking at it from this perspective, Darcy comes across as very innocent and sweet, but the point is that he isn't at all. That's why Lalita is quite fed up with his condescending comments all the time about Indian culture. She doesn't throw temper tantrums. She responds very intelligently to his colonialist comments. His mother later is equally culturally insensitive when she talks about Deepak Chopra and curry as being all she needs from India.

Nausheen wrote: "Oh, do you think it would be called a spoof in America (kind of like Date Movie, Scary Movie etc)? Or I guess not, cos a spoof would need all Jane Austen's books together!! Do I hear her turning in..."
I wouldn't call it a spoof. It's Pride and Prejudice from a postcolonical Indian perspective, with Darcy representing the new face of colonialism which is the tourist trade with big hotels that make a lot of money out of tourists who come to see a "culture" but never leave the hotel. Darcy represents the worst of these traits as he thinks he knows it all, and Lalita teaches him how wrong he is. By the end, he has come to realize that her culture has something to offer to him, and he is willing to embrace it. I think it's a remarkably intelligent conversion of Darcy's aristocratic position into the new "aristocrats," the big chains and multinationals. It takes a Lalita to teach him where he's been going wrong. Not a spoof at all, though it's hilariously done, and there is satire and humour in the way the dance scenes are turned into Bollywood style, but a serious film nevertheless.

Monica wrote: "Nausheen wrote: "Oh, do you think it would be called a spoof in America (kind of like Date Movie, Scary Movie etc)? Or I guess not, cos a spoof would need all Jane Austen's books together!! Do I he..."

I like what you are saying Moni. Her quickness to jump on Darcy's lack of cultural undertanding might seem out of character for some of us because we have this idea that Elizabeth is somehow "reserved" in her anger. But she's not, she's a true choleric. She passionate and doesn't have great patience for stupidity. If we really understood our favorite heroine, we would see someone aggressive and ready to pick a fight with ignorant people.

A great spoof would be taking Austen to space. I would like to see some SciFi Austen with a soundtrack by Muse and Daft Punk. Darcy would be an ambassador of a wealthy planet. I am having my own good time with this - if anyone else can follow that thought, let me know. LOL! We Americans are much better at making our spoofs over the top - this is the first thing I think I have ever said with true pride for my country.

I love the idea of SciFi spoof, Sarah, with Darcy as ambassador of a wealthy planet being forced for diplomatic reasons to visit a poorer planet and being oh so "nicely" condescending about what he thinks of as a more primitive populace... Well, Elizabeth will show him! Go Elizabeth!

Thanks babe:)

yeah it was nice n funny... it did capture most of d feelings of pride n prejudice. d charaters like Mrs. Bennet were well played out... tough towards d climax it was a bit too fast... overall entertaining.

Monica, thanks for teaching me a few things that I had no idea were part of the movie. Do I detect a thread of "white guilt" somewhere in your comment about colonialistic India?/ :D


I am now thinking maybe it's like a diplomatic thing now and Lalita is an ambassador of Indian culture, wonder how that ties in with Jane Austen's victorian English society though. They did use Indian fabrics then!

Dear Stella I loved Clueless, even when I didn't know it had loose ties with Emma. Alicia Silverstone was adorable, I liked her best friend too and maybe not Brittany Murphy (even though I like her now post Uptown Girl)

Goodness I feel so important, I have never been quoted so much.
:)

Sarah: I simply love over the top American spoofs. My current favourite is SuperHero Movie with Drake Bell. I would so love to watch a sci-fi version of P&P. Elizabeth Rules!! And maybe Mr. Bingley could look like the guy in the new Axe Effect ad. I would even like to watch the teen movie with Orlando whoever and will secretly not like it, cross my heart!

Deepak Chopra must be really jaded now! Time for someone more charismatic, like Rajiv Gandhi.

Nausheen wrote: Deepak Chopra must be really jaded now! Time for someone more charismatic, like Rajiv Gandhi.

That's Darcy's Mum's choice. She says something to the effect that she doesn't really need to visit India because she has Deepak Chopra and curry. Lalita answers her by saying (approximately): That's not the real India. You don't feel you don't need to go to Italy because you've got pasta and meatballs, do you?
That film is so funny!I really want to watch it again.

Well, I have a job here in India and there's not much to do.

Monica, I understand for a person from the UK or the US , who is visiting India for business/pleasure it may be a different experience, culturaly speaking. It's a complex melting pot.

Hey maybe they should make a sequel called Bride in Prejudice about Rai living in the US with Martin Henderson and she is sort of Deepak Chopra reincarnated in a female form and teaching the wealthy American socialites like his mom on how to make curry.

In all honesty, I enjoy Punjabi sense of humour sometimes, when it is not really vulgar.

Sarah, what a fun idea for a Sci-Fi P&P! It has the potential to be horrid as well, of course... in which case it would be wonderfully entertaining. All Austen's story lines are so enduring that they could work with endless interpretations, just so long as the artists don't borrow too much from the original.
For instance, "Pride, Prejudice, and Jasmin Field," a modern a chick-lit adaptation of P&P,(and a blast- one of two works of JA fan fiction that I've liked) at times would use JA's dialogue, changing the lines to make them more modern, but still very obviously recognizable. Instances like that seem to me more mooching than anything else.
But to end my rant, I think "Bride and Prejudice" excelled as it didn't try to be too much like P&P. Many of the scenes were completely original, and they did bring up new themes, such as the Post-colonialism. (It did seem to be a rather surfacey, chick-flickized treatment, but now I am quibbling). And the songs were so fun! And Star Princess, yes I think a sequel would completely work with the whole culture-clash thing! I really seem to love movies set in India. Anyone know if any other good Bollywood films?

Thanks to all of your recommendations, I rented Bride and Prejudice and loved it. It was a thoroughly enjoyable, fun movie. I watched it twice and the opening bridal part three times. They did a wonderful job adapting P&P to a contemporary story. I was wondering how they would work in the Mr. Collins part and they did it perfect. Thanks guys!

Glad you enjoyed it, Diane. Yes, Mr Collins is hilarious!

Rachael wrote: ""Pride, Prejudice, and Jasmin Field," a modern a chick-lit adaptation of P&P."

Thanks for the suggestion. I've been thinking of getting it, so you've given me the thumbs up.

I agree with Rachael about enduring JA themes. I will watch anything Period and especially even remotely Austenesque.

I adore "Bride and Prejudice!" (the dancing and music alone is so fantastic!)

It's a fun twist for a Jane Austen adaptation, and I could appreciate how many of the P&P themes were woven in.

hm... now I want to watch it again ;>

Oh, and I love the joke about the swimming pools! :D

I finally watched Bride & Prejudice last night and really enjoyed it. It was funny, and vibrant and basically followed the Darcy/Elizabeth story. I do think that their part, in particular, was a bit stretched. She judged him rather quickly and harshly, but she was living the upper-class lifestyle herself. You could hardly call that dance party on the beach "Indian" culture. But, I enjoyed it, especially Mr. Kohli in L.A., and the mom sipping champagne in first class on the plane!

Jeannette wrote: "But, I enjoyed it, especially Mr. Kohli in L.A., and the mom sipping champagne in first class on the plane! "
LOL at the first class scene. Also at the snake dance. Loved that!
Also love the scene where Lydia slaps Wickam, even though that veers madly way from the novel.

But it was clever to have the actors following the moves on the screen during the fight scene in the movie theater.

I really must see B&B again, haven't seen it for a few months. It always cheers me up. Mr Kohli in LA is brilliant. I also like the way Jane and Mr Bingley are done. Overall a very clever adaptation.

I agree, Jeannette, that "Elizabeth" judged Darcy too quickly (didn't seem he really warranted the judgment he was given). But, other than that I agree that they adapted things pretty well :)

I love this movie. When it was in the theater I made sure to see it twice, because the musical numbers are much better on a large screen. They make me think of the Hollywood musicals of the 1940's and 50s--they're so over-the-top. I think all the actors are wonderful, especially Aishwarya Rai, but then I've never seen her in any other movie, so I don't have any preconceived ideas about her. The first couple of times I saw the movie, I wished that they had gotten a better actor for Darcy, but now Martin Henderson seems just right, except sometimes his American accent is not quite right.

Here's an article about the movie, including quotes from the maker, Gurinder Chadha. It was in the Seattle Times when the movie opened in theaters in 2005. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html...
Gurinder Chadha wanted to make a Bollywood-like movie that Westerners could appreciate.

I think this would have been wonderful in a theater on the big screen. Just the colors alone were amazing!

Ann wrote: "I agree, Jeannette, that "Elizabeth" judged Darcy too quickly (didn't seem he really warranted the judgment he was given). But, other than that I agree that they adapted things pretty well :)"

I thought that Mr. Darcy was also judged really harshly and quickly. I wish that there was a little more build up to that. But overall, I did enjoy the music and the colors. It was a nice adaptation! Especially the "Bennett" family, I thought that they were excellently cast! Oh, and of course, Mr. Kohli!

I wonder what we would have made of this movie if we had not known the plot of Pride & Prejudice? I think there were a few gaps that had to be filled-in by a knowledge of the original story.

I agree! My husband was watching it with me (never read the book, never seen the movie) and he seemed to have gotten it. Actually now, when I watch P&P, he'll ask me "which one is supposed to be the pretty Indian girl?" Where we are all saying, "which one is Elizabeth?"

Shaun wrote: "I agree! My husband was watching it with me (never read the book, never seen the movie) and he seemed to have gotten it. Actually now, when I watch P&P, he'll ask me "which one is supposed to be ..."

That's funny!

I love love love this movie, own it, have seen it several times, own the soundtrack, and was fortunate to first see the film at the AFI Festival, where director Gurinder Chadha did a Q&A after the screening, and she was as delightful as you'd imagine her to be when you watch those end credits!

Shaun wrote: "Ann wrote: "I agree, Jeannette, that "Elizabeth" judged Darcy too quickly (didn't seem he really warranted the judgment he was given). But, other than that I agree that they adapted things pretty ..."
Ditto on all accounts, Shaun!

Laurie wrote: "I love love love this movie, own it, have seen it several times, own the soundtrack, and was fortunate to first see the film at the AFI Festival, where director Gurinder Chadha did a Q&A after the ..."

Has anyone watched the bonus features in "Bend it Like Beckham" where Chadha does the cooking with her mom and aunt? Hilarious!

Ann wrote: "Laurie wrote: "I love love love this movie, own it, have seen it several times, own the soundtrack, and was fortunate to first see the film at the AFI Festival, where director Gurinder Chadha did a..."

I owned it!! Love it!!

I have, Ann! Bend it Like Beckham is one of my favorite films--another one I own and have watched over and over again.