Crikey! It is a winner! The charmingest story ever told. Give it an Indian, Italian or Mexican flavour. You can?t go wrong ? not unless you are a genius. And as we all know, Gurinder Chaddha definitely does not have that kind of genius. So we have ourselves a ripping good tale. Unfortunately, that is not all we need. The directorial touch ? add that to a good story and you reach cinematic heaven. Sadly Chaddha fails to deliver here. The brilliance we found in Bend it? is simply non-existent here.
So all we have is Jane Austen. And bless her unsuspecting soul, we are entertained!
A family of four unmarried daughters and their parents ? settled in sadda Amritsar form the main protagonists. Their mother is, as we can expect, desperate to marry them off. She has her eyes fixed on Balraj who has come to town all the way from London for a friend?s wedding. So the eldest daughter is brazenly thrust his way and anyways, he is charmed. His friend Darcy, an American from LA(so today, so global) is also attracted to the second sister. But our lady is miffed by his arrogance???
Staying close to the original story, the movie makes minor deviations to accommodate the cultural difference. And that is the best part ? because the story, with it?s fantastic characters and true-to-life dramas is refreshingly fun to watch. Namrata Shirodkar as the elder sister is sweet and likeable.
Aishwarya disappoints as the self-willed, intelligent Elizabeth or rather Lalita(???!!). However she is passable and will not be found wanting if you do not expect too much from an actress. She does the song and dance routines well enough. But the strong understated emotions, which form the basis of her role are left unexpressed. If Chaddha intended to hold her up as the international Indian beauty, she should succeed. But I doubt her performance will be noticed. In any case she dominates the entire movie, and you do not find it uncomfortable.
Martin Henderson too passes muster. I had heard that his looks were a disappointment. I did not think so ? he suits the role of the reserved Darcy to a T. But the chemistry between him and Lalita was barely achieved. Martin Andrews as the sought-after Balraj does not have much to do ? but, like Namrata, is likeable enough.
Mr Kholi as the comical suitor for Lalita is quite, quite good. Nadira Babbar as the mother is fantastic. Peeya as the 3rd (or 4th) sister is also good.
After watching the movie I thought that Aishwarya blew it ? but I might be wrong. She looks too dramatic in one scene where she is heart-broken ? a little more nuanced acting would do her good. Also she should not always wrinkle up her face when she is smiling ? it is not in keeping with the role of a thoughtful, self-assured girl. The mature, I-can-handle-it attitude is always missing in her performances.
However, she is not so bad that she messes up the movie. She is pretty comfortable in many scenes and even succeeds in eliciting a certain level of empathy. The bottomline I guess, is that I thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie.
There are many moments of genuine humour in the film and the pace is happening.
So do catch up with this film ? it will be time well spent.