I went to see this yesterday with a couple of mates to see this film and was a little apprehensive after having read most people over the last two days absolutely slate it.
I did actually rather enjoy it in the end as it delivered a fairly enjoyable two hours of not having to think very much and watch a fairly pleasant story unfold. Which is one of the things that makes up a good film. And it made me laugh quite a bit actually. It made my friends laugh as well and in mostly the right places. We were all laughing with the film rather than at it.
Did I think it delivered? Yes I think it did if Gurinder Chadha was planning a film that brought all the elements of Bollywood to Hollywood then she succeeded. The film had all the requisit elements of
A Tall Dark Hero - Will Darcy (Martin Henderson).
A Thunder Thighed Heroine - Lalitha (Aishwarya Rai)
Heroines innocent sister - Jaya (Namrata Shirodkar)
Heros Best Buddy - Mr Balraj (Naveen Andrews)
The Villain - Johnny Wickham ( Daniel Gillies)
The Mother who worries - Mrs Bakshi (Nandira Babbar)
The Vamp - Balrajs sister (Indira Verma)
The Comic - Mr Kohli (Nitin Ganatra)
The calm Father - Mr Bakshi (Anupam Kher)
The heros mother who cannot stand the girlfriend and the hero’s innocent sister.
Random giggling girls and Frilly Chaps.
A good punch up
5-6 usually shite songs that could have been left out, one complete with seven costume changes, dancing round fountains and ludicrous scenes.
Did it deliver on the above. Almost to the letter. It had all the elements that make up a typical Hindi film and that made it enjoyable even if the songs were dire.
Hence the picturesque and idyllic farm, the hotels etc.
If you want reality, do not see this film. If you want a no brainer entertainer then this will give you your money’s worth. I liked the fact that the film picked up impressions of India that are around and played with them quite well.
The highlight of the film has to be Mr Kohli who is a larger than life. He was definitely the funniest person in the film. All of us in the theatre thought the snake dance was also very funny. Particularly as it is supposed to be bad. I also liked the lines about Bhangra being screwing a light bulb and patting a dog at the same time. It was very appropriate.
Some of the humour was oriented to the British sense of humour and may have been a bit lost to some. But it was good.
The only thing that was dissappointing was that I kept comparing it to Pride and Prejudice, both the book and the other films. For a story based on that it did not deliver. It did for the first half and then went downhill in the second. Why?
Mainly Darcy not being arrogant enough and Lalitha not being proud enough. Also there was really not enough cutting banter between the two characters. I really missed the ending with the Aunt of Darcy and Elizabeth where she actually declares her feelings about Darcy. That was all conveniently missed and that is what I think is the actual fun in Pride and Prejudice. Essentially Lalitha gave in too easily and Darcy deteriorated into a Wimp by the second half.
If you want to see a version of Pride and Prejudice - Go and see the 1940’s version with Laurence Olivier it is stunning. Even the one with Colin Firth was pretty good
The updating into modern India was fine as a mother with 4 daughter looking for rich husbands worked. The whole Wickham thing was not so good as there is very little that someone can do that is that caddish these days and the storyline with Lucky was a waste. In the end only 2 out of the 4 daughters get married.
There have been better updates of Jane Austen’s work into modern times. The best of these being Clueless (adaptation of Emma). So if you are looking for a good adaptation see that instead.
But for a couple of hours of light hearted entertainment to go and see all the elements of a Hindi movie that you love or hate then it is worth the entrance fee.