Hoo-ray for Bollywood

By HAP ERSTEIN
Palm Beach Post

Although Hollywood has rediscovered the movie musical only in recent years, the film industry of India has been churning out colorful, spirited song-and-dance spectacles by the hundreds for decades.

These so-called Bollywood pictures have been slowly seeping into Western consciousness and now get a boost from director Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham), who takes the conventions of this giddy genre and grafts them onto the literary world of Jane Austen in a tongue-in-cheek romantic musical comedy, Bride & Prejudice.

Miramax Films 'Bride and Prejudice' B The verdict: Bollywood meets Jane Austen, with colorful musical numbers carrying the day. Director: Gurinder Chadha Starring: Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, Daniel Gillies Run time: 120 minutes Release date: Feb. 25, 2005 Rating: PG-13 for some sexual references See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer   -- Trailers require Quicktime Rate "Bride & Prejudice":   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Moviegoers who have a problem when folks suddenly burst into song will quickly see their worst nightmare realized as the guests at a pre-wedding reception break into a precisely choreographed dance routine. While it is meant to look spontaneous, it could not have happened without hours of rehearsal.

The same goes for a sequence at the marketplace in Amritsar, India, in which the entire city seems to kick up its heels, in dizzying overhead shots of carefully coordinated, candy-colored saris and turbans.

The musical numbers are the best thing about Bride & Prejudice and when they grow fewer in the film's second half, the energy sags. The single standout sequence is when main character Lalita Bakshi (huge-eyed beauty Aishwarya Rai, a true Bollywood star in her first English language role) is taunted by her three sisters over the prospect of marrying uncouth, crass Americanized accountant Mr. Kohli (broadly comic Nitin Ganatra), in a pulsing pop-rock song called No Life Without Wife. Think of it as an Indian version of Matchmaker, Matchmaker from Fiddler on the Roof.

The story line borrows bits — but only bits — of Austen's Pride and Prejudice, which was also plundered and updated for Bridget Jones' Diary. Lalita and her sisters are a full-time project of their mother, who is eager to arrange marriages for them. Lalita has that headstrong, modern notion of wanting to marry for love and when she meets American hotel tycoon Will Darcy (Martin Henderson of The Ring, far too bland an actor for the role), there are immediate sparks of animosity between them that can only lead to romance.

A rival for her affections is Johnny Wickham (the more charismatic Daniel Gillies), who emerges from the sea to make Lalita's head spin. Worse, Darcy draws them together by intimating that Wickham is strictly bad news. Of course Darcy's warning proves accurate and he must rescue Lalita's precocious younger sister Lucky from Wickham's clutches in a subplot that plays out clumsily.

Meanwhile, Darcy woos Lalita and they start to click, interrupted at regular intervals by plot obstacles.

If you listen carefully, you can hear messages of cultural clashes. Lalita is skeptical of Darcy's imperialist attitudes toward her country, accusing him of wanting to buy an all-inclusive resort in Goa so American tourists can come to India without actually having to see India. She has her own self-image problems, you see, and doubts Darcy could really be interested in a girl from India.

Bride & Prejudice bounces around the globe, jetting to London and Los Angeles, with scenic landmarks as background. Director Chadha handles the location work well, delivering a more visually interesting and polished film than Beckham.

Her homage to Bollywood is nothing to take too seriously, but expect to leave the theater with Indian rhythms rattling in your brain and a smile on your face.