Bride and Prejudice and other things...

Stereotype.. Thats what we do .. always and on a daily basis.

Pride and Prejedice is a book I have read even when i was in school and again many a times when I was growing up.. Jane Austen is fascinating.. The sensitivity she brings in to her books from a very feministic point of view is quite appealing.

Theres been a hollywood version of this with keira knightley recently and I had seen trailers of which. Well. i did not quite think she suits the character of Lizzie (thats me.. I just think she looks to pixie-ish and not the matured well read sort i woudl have imagined Elizabeth to be)

But thats digressing.. There is an Indian version of the same story of the Bennet sisters, "Bride and Prejudice".

I had for some reason imagined this to be silly and stereotyped as most Indo-western (for the lack of a better word) movies are!

I had completely warded this away and did not think it was worth it so never ventured to see it..
So, today saw this in the foreign movies aisle at my local DVD store and said to myself- 'What the heck' and picked it up..
Lazy sundays and all that, kinda inspires you to just chill and watch movies which do not/may not satisfy any creative/entertainment needs but are completely for the sake of self dare or even ticking things off your ah maybe I will do this sometime in my life list..

So, nice spicy thai food (aha, made by yours truly:p) and some nice wine and I am all set to watch this thingy..

Imagine my pleasant suprise when it turns out to be a good movie.. I mean I was not bored or unhappy for most parts of it :)) And it made me wonder why have people disregarded it so much..

I think the first reason that jumps to my face is the fact that most of the people who may have watched this movie have never ever read the book or even heard of it.. They probably just went to see this movie as the next indo-western flick with aishwarya rai in it! So, fellas around.. This is a very very good adaptation of an extremely good book! So unless you have read the book, you will never see what a good adaptation is it.. And of course if you didn;t like the book, ten to one, you will never appreciate the movie, so why even talk abt it! It is a subject that will probably appeal to only a certain segment of public which is intelligent and sensitive enough to realize what Pride and Pejudice (PAP from here on) is about. PAP is not about a masala flick, it is not just about boy meets girl and the rest of the masala flick.. Its a very intelligently weaved story about vanity, pride (false pride even) and love in the middle of a traditional tightly coupled familiy background.
Which is also why its is so apt to be translated to a bollywood movie because we can relate to all that.. and more of course...The bond between the bennet sisters, the antics of the mother, the arrogance of Will Darcy, the chemistry between lizzie and darcy is sheer pleasure to read about.. The actual chemistry shown in the movie is probably colder than I would like to have seen (But i think I would rather blame the bollywood movie format for that) but its is definitely a very good adaptation..

The antics of the mother especially is worth watching this movie for ;) It brings a certain smile on your face which only an indian child can imagine ..

The other reason which I think not many have liked this movie is the fact that lizzie is played by Aishwarya Rai.. Well, when I say that does not mean, people don't like the fact that she'z playing the role but the simple fact that she is in it.. I wonder why so many people (including myself at times) are so so critical of her.. I chose to let go of that prejudice and declare that she is not bad at all in this movie ( if you notice I am still conservative about my praises ;)). Anyways, the general opinion is that she comes thru as someone extremely cold and frigid (uh, sorry Aish).. I think in a few movies she does. (a little cold that is :p) But again that is because of so many prejudices we carry in our heads..

The average indian no matter what you say likes the underdog.. We would rather see the underdog win (even if he/she has no justifiable skills) just because well.. we relate to the underdog, at least most do.. So, its a positive and feel good thing to root for the underdog.. Its also kinda partially the same reason why people like Rani mukherjee so much... ( I mean, apart from the fact that she is a brilliant actress). She personifies the girl next door, the girl we all see ourselves as or see people around us as.. So, it makes it easier for us to relate and empathize with her..
But with Aish, its a completely different story. As much as I think she is overrated and cold, I have to say a lot of that backlash come from the fact that we all think and recognize the fact that she is too good to be true.. Who can look as pretty as a picture like she does ?? I mean really ! We have seen her in Western clothes (in some movies and on the ramp) and she looks ravishing, we have seen her in indian clothes (devdas and Hum dil de...) and she looks too good. We have seen her understated in Raincoat and we have seen her giggling mindlessly on Oprah.. But can we refute the fact that she looks simply glorious in all those appearances ? No.. we cannot and we also cannot stand that fact that we cannot..

So, we basically see someone who looks ravishing.. has been doing movies with some great movie makers, has some good acting capers to her credit (she was good in Raincoat and this movie) and so we ask ourselves - Is she too good to true ? Hmm Maybe she is.. Anyways I dont care...
ha.. talk about prejudices :)

Anyways, I think she has done a good job in this movie and does more justice to the character of Lizzie than Keira does.. (Uh sorry Keira, I am waiting for Pirates of the Caribbean btw)

T'is is a good movie. for a lazy afternoon, plz do not diregard it for mundane reasons.. Its got a good an catchy soundtrack and the fact that every scene is so indianized that there is nothing that you will not be able to relate to, makes it a pleasure to watch :)

To Bride and Prejudice...