Bride & Prejudice

Bride & Prejudice, the Bollywood version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, is Gurinder Chadha's follow-up to 2002's smash Bend it Like Beckham. It is, however, very different. Despite Chadha being based in England, Bride & Prejudice does not have the Brit-flick appeal of her previous masterpiece. "It is a combination of Bollywood and Hollywood, all tied up with a very British overall sensibility," she claims.

Mr. and Mrs. Bakshi are very eager to find appropriate husbands for their five unmarried daughters. When rich, single gentlemen Balraj Bingley (Andrews) and Will Darcy (Henderson) come to town, the Bakshis have high hopes, although circumstance and prejudiced opinions threaten to get in the way of romance.

Aishwarya Rai is excellent in her debut English-language feature as Lalita (Austen's Lizzie Bennet) and New Zealander Martin Henderson supposedly fought off Johnny Depp and Joaquin Phoenix to earn the role of Darcy.

As long as you enter the cinema expecting the musical aspects of this film to be rather comical and in true Bollywood style, along with little similarity to Bend it Like Beckham, you will not leave unhappy.

Ricky Anthony Wyatt