B&P “Jane” speaks
Sify.com has an article about Namrata Shirodkar, who plays the Jane character, Jaya Bakshi, in BRIDE AND PREJUDICE.
“My character is nice - but Jane is milder as I have done more outgoing characters in films like Tera mera saath rahe.It’s a very subtle character with very basic guidelines.There was homework to do because of the script. I had to go through the script a couple of times to understand the graph of Jaya. Even though she’s quiet, there are certain definitions to her character-like the look she gives or the kind of feelings that she goes through because of pain or happiness. You need to give in to the fact that this is how you are going to be. This required understanding.”
In other B&P news, the Telegraph (U.K.) has a great article about Gurinder Chadha and the process of making B&P.
In Bride and Prejudice, the Bennet family of sleepy Longbourn, Hertfordshire, become the Bakshis of Amritsar, a city equally far removed from Indian high culture and society. Elizabeth Bennet has become Lalita Bakshi, while Mr Darcy is a wealthy heir to an American hotel chain, who meets Lalita while visiting India for a friend’s wedding. With swift changes of locale that would do justice to any Bollywood film, the action ricochets between India, London and Los Angeles.
“I decided to make a film that would play to suburban audiences round the world, who may not be familiar with Bollywood,” says Chadha. “All my decisions after that were about helping ordinary movie-going people through the process. Pride and Prejudice is a universal love story that’s sort of familiar to people. So they can sit back, not worry they’re going to miss the story, and just get into a different film language.”
The Jane Austen Society may be reaching for the smelling salts, yet Bride and Prejudice cleaves remarkably close to the original novel.
“The book’s themes have all been brought out, but with an Indian twist,” says Chadha. “Script editors told me to move away from the book. But I said no. I wanted to come back to the book at every turn.”
Sounds good to us. 
