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Bride and Prejudice (2005)
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Movie Review by Nick 
February 10th, 2005
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In the realm of BRIDE AND PREJUDICE, I'm a stranger in a strange land.
It's haunted me for a good portion of my life, and I have been subject to years of ridicule and shame because of it, but I have never read Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. And while it feels good to air my filthy laundry out in public forum, well, I think I may need a few more clothes pins because I have another confession. I am equally purblind about Bollywood and have little to no experience with films from the mysterious and breathtaking land of India.
Now that I have laid my cards on the table, I'm assuming--yes, I'm well aware of the famous adage involving asses, u and me--that it's a safe bet that no one expects comparisons to the other films in the genre, or the aforementioned classic that Gurinder Chadha has based her latest film BRIDE AND PREUDICE upon. Good, let's keep it that way and instead, let's start with a clean slate. BRIDE AND PREUDICE is a Bollywood meets Hollywood (Bollyhollywood?) romantic comedy about an Indian mother eager to find suitable husbands for her unmarried daughters. Dappled with vibrant, colorful eruptions of song and dance, BRIDE's Indian roots set it apart from your average romantic comedy. While the "Holly" influence is there, BRIDE still retains all the ingredients of a traditional Bollywood film, such as no on-screen kisses (Indian censors are offended by this), a villain (Daniel Gillies) who threatens the main characters love for one another, a beautiful heroine (Aishwarya Rai) and a handsome hero (Martin Henderson). And let us not forget the mandatory happy ending – after all, love always triumphs in the end, right?
Known as the "Queen of Bollywood," Aishwarya Rai gets her first real exposure to American audiences and I foresee big, big things for her Highness. Not only is she striking, she emanates a certain warmth that makes her instantly likeable. Martin "Looks a hell of a lot like Luke Wilson" Henderson makes a fine yet mismatched love interest for Rai, but my two favorite characters were California based suitor Mr. Kholi (Nitin Chandra Ganatra) and our heroine's mother Mrs. Bakshi (Nadira Babbar), as both of which were responsible for a great portion of the comic relief.
Fans of the romantic-comedy genre will definitely enjoy this one. Aside from the Bollywood influence, the story itself (in its film form) is pretty run-of-the-mill romantic fare- but that's not really a bad thing. It's a formula that works, and you know what they say – if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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