42 out of 48 people found the following review helpful:

Fun Family Film That Lacks Edge

Samuel Tyler from Reading, England, 11th November, 2004

Bride and Prejudice is not the type of film that I would normally go to the cinema to watch but as my Mum was visiting I felt she may like it. And she did.

This film has a lot that would appeal to people who enjoyed films such as Calendar Girls or Bridget Jones? Diary. Its fun and light with a romantic storyline that is high on the ?feel good factor?. Directed by the same person as Bend it Like Beckham both films have a similar feeling with Asian culture clashing with that of the west.

Loosely based on the book Pride and Prejudice they go so far as to lose one of the children from the entire plot! The main area of grief for me where the songs, I thought they poorly written and a bit embarrassing!

I would advice people that do not like light hearted films to avoid this as it can be painfully twee. However, I have rarely been to see a film were the audience were such a wide range of ethnicity and that can only be a good thing!

(Based on cinema release)

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24 out of 26 people found the following review helpful:

Such a pity it doesn't work

Rehan from , 16th May, 2005

Giving this film a bad review feels really mean-spirited, since it?s clearly very well-intentioned and makes a number of interesting and amusing parallels by transferring Jane Austen into modern India. But unfortunately it just doesn?t work. The worst aspect of the film is that it tries to send up Bollywood conventions, but it?s never entirely clear whether the archness, the contrived sentimentality, the mugging and over-acting is intentional or not, which is disastrous. All too often it just seems clumsy or corny. The song-and-dance sequences are more miss than hit: the trouble is that the form just doesn?t translate well, literally and metaphorically. The first sequence is fun enough, but the later ones, with their verses in English (examples: ?She?s going to be wed/It doesn?t mean she?s dead? and ?No life/Without wife/Oh yea yea yea?) are just toe-curlingly embarrassing. And, as just about every other reviewer has pointed out, Martin Henderson (who I believe is a New Zealander by origin) does bland uptight American well enough but there is absolutely no chemistry or spark between him and Aishwarya Rai, which rather crucifies the point of the film. Almost all the deleted sequences would have helped clarify the various subplots and make some of the characterisations clearer; a shame because they would have added little more than 10 minutes to the film. All in all it?s mildly forgettable entertainment at a very shallow level and a really missed opportunity for something more interesting. The problem with trying to blend two cultures is that you can miss and fall between two stools ? which alas is what happens here.

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24 out of 42 people found the following review helpful:

Bride and Predjudice: A WARNING

Chris from Wimbledon, London, 23rd January, 2005

Do not see this film if... 1. You are a fan of: East is East,Anita & Me,Bend it Like Beckham 2. You are a fan of Pride and Predjudice 3. You enjoy films that aren't: - Over long - Badly dubbed musical numbers - too numerous musical numbers (the audience was groaning every time we went into the next song) - extremely cheesy musical numbers - follow any kind of decent plot - extremely tenuous links to P&P (darcy,wickham,the fight between them) The film is DIRE, if my girlfriend and Me could have escaped, we would have done. this was a real dissapointment after the enjoayble qualities of Bend it like beckham. There were a few tiny funny bits, totalling about 10mins of the films 2hr+ running time. you have been warned!

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23 out of 42 people found the following review helpful:

Regency Bollywood

SA from mid Wales, 19th December, 2004

I saw this at the UK Premiere [with audience mainly in Regeny costume or everyday asian wear!] and I loved it. I am an Austen fan and thought the transposition to Amritsa and LA worked amazingly well, kept to the true spirit of the book despite some changes.{ Do any of us really miss Kitty?} I loved the Bollywood colour, pazzazz, crowd scenes, drumming and dancing. I thought the rave scene in Goa was terrific and felt that much of the subtlety of the dilemma of women in the book was brought out. Even much of the dialogue was recognisable but if it would offend you to see anything of Austens altered in any way, dont rent it. I think Jane Austen would have appreciated it if she were around now. Somehow the Bollywood dances made sense as ways that couples got together [in just the same way as Regency Balls] Indian mothers just as keen as English 18th Century ones to see their daughters married off well, this is why P and P is such a universal story, it could be anywhere, any people, any time. Great to see it interpreted so well by Gurinder Chadha.I hope there will be some extras and Directors commentary on this dvd cos the end credits are in Bollywood style with the Director and Producer enacting certain scenes and are hilarious! They must have had a terrific time making the film and it would be great to hear about it!

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Bride and Prejudice

A Customer from Cambridge, 17th February, 2010

Fascinating film that is well worth watching if you like Jane Austen and Bollywood all rolled into one. Exciting, colourful and appealing. Definitely value for money. Relax and enjoy!

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was ok

JakeJ88 from , 29th October, 2009

this film was ok, but not the best. It dragged on a little too much for me. I usually enjoy indian/bollywood style films however i found this a bit weak and felt it could have had alot more depth to the film.

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Bride and prejudice

A Customer from Inverurie, 20th May, 2009

At first I wasn't sure what to make of the film. The opening was rather manic, characters unclear, dialogue drowned out by the music and the plot rather messy. However, this changed for the better about half an hour in and I found myself really enjoying the film. The love story was a tad flat at times but the humour made up for some of this. Also, Naveen Andrews without a shirt was quite nice! As a die-hard Austen fan, I felt it doesn't really compare to the original BBC version, but it is still a fun film. Just don't take it too seriously!

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Enjoyable

Charlove from , 13th May, 2009

Loved the film. Storyline changes a bit from Pride and Prejudice. Loved Mr. Darsi, his acting was good.

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