Jane Austen “the lost grandmother of Bollywood”
Gurinder Chadha tells the Independent about her thought process while crafting the script for BRIDE AND PREJUDICE:
An awareness of the sensibilities of her audience, and of world politics, influenced several important decisions in the making of Bride and Prejudice. “I did not want Darcy to be English, because of the connotations of the Raj and also because of Colin Firth and his performance in the BBC television adaptation. I did not want to put that pressure on a British actor. Also, because of the Iraq war, it was good for me to make him American, as Americans feel like they rule the world.”
Chadha quickly adds: “Or that, at least, is what Darcy thinks in the film. In the novel, the conflict between them is that Darcy is upper class and she is middle class, and I changed it to him being from America, the supposedly civilised world, and she is from India, part of the supposedly uncivilised developing world.”
[. . .]
“I knew Amritsar, which is like Hicksville, India, because I spent time there as a student. I stayed with a family that had lots of daughters, so I knew the politics of the family from the region. Jane Austen’s world completely fitted Amritsar. Amritsar 2004 is the same as 1790s Longbourn, Hertfordshire.”
We were especially fond of this bit:
The success of Beckham brought Chadha to the attention of the Miramax mogul Harvey Weinstein, who backed Bride and Prejudice. Chadha sees the film chief as the loveable Punjabi uncle you’d see dancing at weddings, with his paunch sticking out of his shalwar kameez.
Harvey Weinstein, we remain convinced, IS John Thorpe.
Screenindia.com also has an interview with Ms. Chadha. Some excerpts:
An actor has to connect to a role and bring an emotional truth to the character, that’s the most important thing. I think Aishwarya has done a fantastic job in Bride… because she’s had the chance to play a more natural character. A girl-next-door who’s normal and not overly glamorous. Most of the time she is in jeans and T-shirts and is more concerned with her heart than her wardrobe. Ash connected with the character of Lalita Bakshi and brought out her intelligence, beauty and pride at being an Indian.
Where did the idea of taking an 18th century classic and transplanting it in 21st century India come from?
Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice revolves around the parents of five daughters who have to be married off and living outside the fashionable capital city this is not an easy task. Jane Austen was writing in the 1790s but to me it sounded very contemporary India. In the world Austen was living a woman was not considered a 100 per cent citizen unless she was married. I’ve observed that this is true of some parts of India even today. Also, Pride And Prejudice is a love story that revolves around a man and woman who can’t stand each other because of their differing views and background. But as they are thrown together, they realise that they were very mistaken in their perception of character. That again is a very Indian film concept.Has the interest in Austen’s works grown since you started Bride…?
Jane Austen has an enormous fan base around the world. If Bride… encourages more people to read her novels then I’ll be very happy.One last question. We all know that our Indian filmmakers are a superstituous lot with both Karan Johar and Ekta Kapoor fixated on the letter ‘K’. But even you seem to be hung up on ‘B’?
I may live in England but I am an Indian after all. Yes, I am superstitious about this letter. Someone told me that ‘B’ was very successful for me and both Bhaji On The Beach and Bend It Like Beckham have proved lucky. That’s one of the reasons I changed Pride And Prejudice to Bride And Prejudice. I also thought given the subject it was a very apt title…very witty.
The reviews of B&P are still coming in.
The Guardian really wants to like the film but finds it a bit lacking.
The Scotsman.com likes the musical numbers but finds the rest of the movie dull.
The Mirror says, “If you liked MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING and MONSOON WEDDING, you’ll like this.”
