Bride and Prejudice

So far in this blog I’ve only looked at American musicals but America isn’t the only one making musicals. Yes it’s time for me to tackle the behemoth of musical cinema that is Bollywood. Kind of. Bride and Prejudice is not just a Bollywood film, the director Gurinder Chadha whilst being of Indian origin grew up in the UK and quite a lot of funding for this film comes from the UK film Council which means most of the filming was done in UK and it was inspired by a British novel. So we have a British/ Bollywood production. Well no, because there is a little bit of America in this film as well. To sum up what the director Gurinder Chadha has tried to do is to take three different cultures and put them in a blender to see what would happen. The result is either a mess or a daring masterpiece depending on your point of view.

 

Firstly the actors, we’re going to start with the 2 main stars Aishwarya Rai and Martin Anderson. Aishwarya Rai blew me away in this role and although I’d never heard of her before this. She certainly made an impression. She was perfect as Lalita, she conveyed her emotions perfectly and all you could do was emphasise with her, she doesn’t have many funny moments but the ones she does have work quite well. She just has this aura of independence even when she’s down and out in take me to love part 1. She still manages to convey a feeling of strength that no matter what happens she’s going to get through this and that’s inspiring. Now we move on to Mr Darcy played by Martin Henderson and he wasn’t perfect. He’s quite handsome but I don’t know he struggles to be charming, now in fairness in the beginning of the movie, he’s out of his element but I don’t know he never really recovers and he never quite becomes the romantic hero he’s meant to be. I’ve seen reviews which really bash their chemistry but I think towards the end of the film you do get some sparks between them but it takes a while to get there and even then it’s not exactly mind-blowing. It’s quite disappointing that the romance doesn’t really take of but it works just enough that the rest  of the film can make up for it.

Now the rest of the cast, help to bring a lot of humour and heart to this movie and there’s a lot of them so let’s get going firstly we have Mrs Bakshi played by Nadira Babbar who is hilarious and at the same time quite loveable in that you know she only does what she does for her children. It’s just a shame she manages to embarrass herself and her children while doing it. Then you have Mr. Bakshi who does a good job, he has a few funny lines and gives a solid performance. Now onto the beta couple Jaya (Jane) and Bhalraj (Bingley). These two have very few moments together but the ones they do are very concentrated and you get immediately that they’re falling in love. Then we have Wickham played by Daniel Gillies who’s handsome, British and a dick and Kiran (Miss Bingley) played by Indira Varma who’s attractive, British and a bitch. I don’t know I never quite got what her deal was. She never seemed to be actively trying to seduce Darcy like she was in the novel and she doesn’t appear to oppose her brother’s and Jaya’s relationship. I suppose it doesn’t really matter but she does have a couple good laughs and surprisingly enough there’s actually a hint of affection between her and her brother which I don't think I’ve seen in any other Pride and Prejudice adaption.
Then we have Chandra (Charlotte) played by Sonali Kulkaneri who does a good job as the cynical best friend but despite this she still seems likeable and you want her to do ok and then we have Mr Kholi “Collins” who is hilarious from his star and stripes thong to his eating at the dinner table and unlike the books does come across as ok. He’s not perfect but he’s a decent guy and I’m kind of glad, they got rid of his pathological need to please Catherine de Bourgh or Catherine Darcy in this case. Then we have the other Bakshi sisters, Maya (Mary) played by Meghna Kothari who does a pretty impressive snake dance and that’s about it. But we also have Lakhi (Lydia) who’s the bad Bakshi daughter, her performance is a bit over the top but it was probably what the character needed considering her screen time. Lastly we have the Darcys who are incredibly disappointing Georgina who is played by Alexis Beddel plays the role as if she’s stoned. I suppose Marsha Mason does a better job as Catherine Darcy now Darcy’s mother and not his aunt but I don’t know in other versions, she’s this  grand imposing figure and I don’t know in this she’s certainly snobbish but she never gives of that feeling of power that other versions have given of.

 

The script which as I mentioned before is based on the ever popular Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The script takes meticulous care in trying to follow the novel as closely as possible whilst bollywoodising names. Lizzy becomes Lalita, the Bennets become the Bashes and so on and so on. There's also quite a cool action sequence added where Darcy and Wickham confront each other. It’s quite amazing how well the plot fits it new setting to the point where I think Austen would emphasise with the problems modern Indian girls face. But if for some reason you don't know the basic story of a novel, here's a summary. Boy meets girl. Girl dislikes boy. Boy fancies girl. Boy declares himself. Girl shoots him down. Girl gets to know boy and she realises she was wrong about him. Girl falls in love with boy and they live happily ever after. But the script does have some problems for one it seems to have an agenda that I don’t agree with that anyone who comes to India must immerse themselves in Indian culture and it’s disrespectful to India to stay in a 5 star hotel because if you don’t you won’t experience the “real India.” Also it gives Lalita another best friend but they don’t do anything with and Jaya and Bhalraj’s relationship seems a bit rushed but these are just nitpicks and on the whole the script is funny and exudes a genuine warmth especially the points that deal with family.

The direction in this film is really good, some of the shots are like being attacked by a rainbow and it’s clear that Chadha just threw everything she could at this film resulting in something that’s incredibly colourful but it never becomes garish. The film has plenty of quiet peaceful moment which offers a great contrast to the big loud moments like when Jaya(Jane) is comforting Lizzie after she learns that Darcy ruined Jaya’s chances of marrying Bhalraj (Mr Bingley) . I think I should give a shout out to the family scenes which were really good. Despite none of the Bakshis really looking alike you really bought that they were a family. One small moment is at the beginning where Lakhi (Lydia) is mouthing what her mum is saying as she says it and just little looks and glances throughout the film give the family, a real credibility. So is the direction a bit over top, at times yes but Chadha knows that, she’s having fun with it and you feel like you should do the same.

 

Now it’s time to talk about the songs which make up this musical. First of all we have the Punjabi wedding song. This song sets the tone for the rest of the movie it’s loud,  it has over the top dance sequences and it’s about the difficulty and pleasure of falling in love. It’s a great introduction to the film because it states what this movie is about and if you don’t like it you can leave. Next we have A marriage has come to town which despite being sung completely in English manages to be more Indian than its predecessor, watching this song is like being attacked by a rainbow and it’s glorious. It’s a joyful song but it still manages to be bittersweet at times although the bride is happy that she’s getting married, she’s still sad about the life she’s leaving behind. If there’s one complaint I have about the song is that we don’t see the bride again after she’s married and it goes against the point of the song and I don’t see why the created this subplot if they weren’t going to use it. Next we have My lips are waiting aka Goa groove which according to Chadha follows in the tradition of many Bollywood films of having a famous glamorous celebrity normally female sing a song and then leave. This song was sung by Ashanti who does look pretty stunning, it does seem a bit over the top for a cameo but who am I to judge Indian film traditions. This song does a good job of setting up the background to the flirtation between Wickham and Lalita and to give the impression that this is a pretty cool concert seriously I want to go to one of these things. Then we have Dola Dola which covers arguably the most important moment in the novel Darcy’s and Lizzy’s first dance this is the moment where their amazing chemistry comes to the fore but she hates him. It doesn’t quite happen that way in this film, they basically seem like two people who are becoming increasingly frustrated with each other and there just isn’t a hint of sexual tension here and this is the one moment when you need it. The choreography is still good though and the song is ok but it’s only meant to be background and the whole thing is a bit lacking. Next we have the first quiet song take me to love part 1 since the first few songs have been so colourful and loud. It was a welcome contrast to have this quiet little number with a quiet unassuming montage to establish everything you need to know and really let the emotion come through. It helps that Aishwarya Rai has a very powerful but gentle voice and with a simple guitar melody this song is a breath of fresh air. Next we have my favourite song in the whole movie no life without wife.  It’s just perfect. It’s upbeat, it’s funny and has some great interactions between the sisters. It’s catchy. I just love this song and it sums up perfectly the message of pride and prejudice. I also love the dream sequence at the end, it’s probably a bit over indulgent on Chadha’s part but sometimes you’ve just got to indulge. Next we have the cobra dance which isn’t really a song but it’s definitely a funny dance sequence and I’ll leave it at that. Now we have take me to love part 2 which instead of being about despair about never finding love this about the joy of finding love and there is a feeling of jubilation. It’s quite infectious and the gospel choir certainly gives the song a lot of energy, it’s a good song and this time I do feel some chemistry and it feels like they’re falling in love. So they’re the songs and most of them seem like, they live in their own little world and completely devoid of reality. But in this case that’s actually good thing, it allows the film to take on a pure dream like feeling and what is Pride and Prejudice if it’s not one girl’s fantasy.

Now onto special Features and if you like special features, buy this DVD because there’s a ton. Firstly we have deleted scenes, they are a couple of good Bakshi scenes which while not being that funny really showed the inner workings of this family, it’s a shame but I can see why they were cut.  We have a scene in Goa which would have made Kiran’s motivations where she explicitly states that her parents would be devastated if Bhalraj and Jaya got together. A verse of take me to love part 2 with Darcy singing. Martin Henderson has a good voice but I don’t know it seems wrong for him to be singing, this is Lalita’s song. They’re both falling in love but she’s the one making the discovery of it.  Then we have Catherine’s Confrontation with Elizabeth, in the novel, it’s a powerful scene where Lizzie stands up for herself and says to possibly one of the richest women in the country to f off. In this movie I don’t know the whole reaction seems a little wooden and it doesn’t have the weight thes moment is meant to have. 

Then we have a scene between Darcy and the Bhalrajs where we actually get a hint that Karan might be interested in Darcy but he’s too focused on her brother. Anyway he tells Bhalraj that he shouldn’t have told her to break up with Jaya and Bhalraj says that he couldn’t face up to seeing her again. His scene whilst interesting meant that for it to work you’d have to invest more time in the Jaya/ Bhalraj relationship which would have hurt the film’s pacing and took focus on the main element. Then we have the deleted song Arrogance, Pride and Vanity which just doesn’t work like a lot of portion in this film it looks pretty but the, the melody is ok but the lyrics are atrociously bad like “What a waste God had to make her so pretty.” Lines like that really make Darcy seem like a sexist prick but the montage actually makes him come across a lot better, he’s shown actually interacting with Indian culture and lightening up a little bit. Then we have a making of which really highlights how ambitious this project was and all the elements that went into making it. There are also featurettes which go into more detail, my personal favourite being the one on choreography, this woman is talented but she is phenomenally scary. Then we have some really funny outtakes that follow on from the ones that were in the credits. A commentary with Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayed Berges the writer which is quite funny and does show some insight into the making of this film like how you can make a Spanish restaurant in London look like a Mexican restaurant in LA. We also have footage from the UK premiere where you get to see some of the producers including the inspiration for Mr. Kholi. We have two trailers, the theatrical and teaser trailer. A funny video of the crew doing the Punjabi wedding song which was done in 3 minutes despite the first version taking 6 days. There’s a gallery with some nice pictures and also apparently production notes and cast biographies now I couldn’t find a way to access them but you should be able to access them on your computer.

To conclude is this film perfect? No not by a long stretch but I have to applaud the vision of Gurinder Chadha. Now I would have done things differently but I doubt I could have done this. So I applaud her initiative to bring Bollywood more into the mainstream in the UK, to try add American musical influences but also trying to keep it a British film. It’s a tough balancing act. Also you have to remember, this came right after bend it like Beckham which was a resounding success for her. She could have done a sequel, she could have stayed making those kind of movies but she made this, something big, bright and unique and in a film industry where we’re seeing more remakes and sequels. I applaud that creativity but crucially does it work and it’s a pity it didn’t inspire anyone to do something similar but maybe that’s a good thing, maybe something like this should stay unique. Does it mix three cultures and still have a comprehensible film? On the whole I think the answer is yes.

Jane Eyre - A non musical review

Hey there fellow bloggers. Here I am again with a review of the latest Jane Eyre movie directed by Cary Fukunaga. First of all I’ve looked at other reviews of this movie who’ve said Jane Eyre was my favorite book and I’ve seen every adaption there is. I can’t claim that level of expertise but I have read the book and I saw the 2006 version with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens both of these I liked quite a lot. So I knew I had to see this film just so I could compare to the 2006 version to see if the story could have been done better. However this film seems like a pale ghost in comparison which was quite disappointing.

The plot of Jane Eyre is quite simple girl has crappy life. Girl falls in love with boy. Boy has dark secret past. Girl leaves boy. Girl goes back to boy and they live happily ever after and this film doesn’t mess with that premise and hits the majority of plot points that the novel has. This is actually a bit disappointing, the film doesn’t do anything new with the plot when I first heard that the film was starting at the point where Jane is found by Mr Rivers. I thought great, they’re going to tell the story in a different way. But they didn’t do anything interesting with it. Jane just flashbacks the story as she’s staying at rivers’ house and this really takes a lot of drive out of the narrative because we keep cutting back to her with the rivers and to be honest that wasn’t the most exciting moment of the book. It takes a lot of energy out of the narrative to have to cut back to Jane having an awkward dinner conversation with the Rivers. It also doesn’t help that because this film is only 90 minutes so they had to cut a lot from the novel, to the point where the film seems almost skeletal. This is especially apparent with the ending, this film doesn't end it stops abruptly. I remember, my sister going to me "Is that it?." Unfortunately that was it and 

The direction of this film was quite disappointing to. Now I’d never heard of Cary Fukunaga before this movie but apparently he’s an award wining director. This was why I was disappointing that this film wasn’t that visually interesting. Now don’t get me wrong, there were a couple of visually interesting shots and the costumes and locations were very good but so was the 2006 version which was made for television. On the whole the film felt  very washed out and dull. Also another funny flaw with the directing I found was the scene where Mr Mason played by Harry Lloyd has been injured by his sister and Jane is looking after him except, she gets up and goes to listen at the tapestry. Now i’m sure this scene was meant to be creepy but all I was thinking was what’s Mr Mason doing right now. “Come back, I’m bleeding, I’m in incredible pain.” I don’t know it just seems a bit silly to me to get up and leave your patient after such a grievous wound. I don’t know maybe the wound wasn’t that bad and she was trying to protect him but I don’t know it just came across like she had a very short attention span.

Now the couple, let’s start with Jane both of them. Firstly young Jane played by Amelia Clarkson. Now then the bit with child Jane as far as I know has never been cut out of an adaptation because despite this seemingly being a love story, it’s also a rocky type movie in that we see someone down and out realize their true potential. So the bits with child Jane are really important to get right this is where we emphasize with Jane and become invested in her story. We want her to do well. We want her to escape. Which is why I don’t understand why they got an actress who was just so wooden, she didn’t seem like a child. She seemed like a robot and I couldn’t bring myself to care about her which is a big failing because it takes a lot of the driving force out of the movie. Now grown up Jane who’s played by Mia Wasikowska and I feel a little bad criticizing her performance because she’s not in the best of positions. She’s got to make up for the flaws of young Jane and make me care but mostly she doesn’t. She gives such a low key and passionless performance throughout this film that it’s hard to understand why anyone would fall in love with her. She just plays it so bland that it made me pine for Ruth Wilson. I will be fair that at various points of the film. There is a faint glimmer of a spark that made me fall in love with the character of Jane Eyre. But these moments are few and far between and it doesn’t carry the movie. 

Now the Mr Rochester played by Michael Fassbender and I’ll admit when I heard that he was playing Rochester I was pumped. But largely he didn’t deliver now then he was a lot better than Mia Wasikowska but then again that might be because he was consistently showing signs of life and he played the rough, dark side of Rochester quite well but not the charming lovable side, he reminded me of Edward Cullen always moping about how dark and dangerous he is. What a  prima dona. This is especially frustrating because I saw him in X men First class and there he had that charming roguishness needed for this part. Finally the chemistry between Jane and Mr Rochester which was severely lacking throughout this film, there was only one moment where I felt any heat and that was after the wedding. But the rest of the film I didn’t get the feeling of two people falling in love just two people being polite to each other. Considering this is meant to be a love story, it really drags down the movie.

I feel I should give a shout out to some of the other actors in this movie but only two really stood out for me. One Judi Dench who plays Miss Fairfax, I had to comment on this performance just because it’s Judi Dench. To be honest I’m kind of surprised she accepted this role. Now the film took great pains to expand her character to make it worth her effort and she does have some good moments. My personal favorite being her standing on the staircase as she watches Jane and Mr Rochester. But the problem is with Mrs Fairfax is she’s not an important character. They tried to mould her into a mother figure for Jane and it just doesn’t work.The other part is Sally Hawkins played by Mrs Reed. It’s a huge testament to her that she stood out after being on screen for 2 minutes tops but she does really well playing the strained Mrs Reed. It’s restrained but she lets you see the subtle cracks behind her mask of her propriety. To be honest it’s a real shame that her part got cut down so much to the point where she really just serves to move the plot but she did manage to shine for her few brief scenes and i was grateful for that.

To conclude this film is boring, it does occasionally show flickers of promise but they quickly subside and leave you with a bore of a film where you don’t care about Jane, you don't care about the love story and after that there’s nothing left. So if you’re a fan of Jane Eyre watch the 2006 version, the acting is better, the story is more developed and the character development feels more organic. For me it’s the definitive adaptation.