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Bride & Prejudice a film by Gurinder Chadha

Chadha, who's last film, Bend it Like Beckham, was much more enjoyable than it probably should have been, has managed that same feat again. Bride & Prejudice, obviously based on the Jane Austin novel, is Chadha's attempt at making a Bollywood Musical - full of ridiculous dance numbers and outlandishly garish costumes. With the exception of this film running a lot shorter than the normal Bollywood running time of 3 to 4 hours, she succeeds.   She succeeds on at least a superficial level - but then how else could one succeed in making a Bollywoodesque musical? As long as one reads this film as being a musical-comedy (emphasis on comedy), then they should have no problem thinking Chadha succeeded as well. The musical numbers, all truly delightful (my favourite is the "no life without a wife" number, sung by the four sisters all dressed in white pajamas) take on a sort of surreal quality as you watch them unfold.   The first number actually caught me off guard - I think I may have forgotten it was a Musical for the first ten minutes. Especially watch for one of the closing numbers, where our stars are walking on the beach and a blue-robed choir comes out of nowhere, followed by a group of singing surfers and then (the best part) a pair of Baywatch rejects come running out of the lifeguard tower to join in the singing and dancing. This looks more like something out of a Zucker Brothers film than anything else - but it works. Silly and spoofish, the film actually works on these levels - though far from great, still a really fun ride to be on (even if you may be too embarrassed to say so). [03/24/05]

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