Bride and Prejudice: Synopsis

With BRIDE & PREJUDICE, Gurinder Chadha, the acclaimed director of “Bend It Like Beckham,” marries Jane Austen’s refined social comedy to a most unexpected partner: the all-singing, all-dancing spectacles of Bollywood. The result is a new twist on Austen’s timeless tale of finding love -- re-told as it has never been before with the cheeky humor, sweeping dance numbers and unabashed romance of Bombay’s box-office hits. As in Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” BRIDE & PREJUDICE brings together two people with polar opposite views, but this time they are also from opposite ends of the earth, as East literally meets West in a riot of color, comedy and emotion.

Chadha has moved the classic story of a young woman seeking to break away from social conventions in the name of love from 18th century England to 21st century Amritsar, India. It is here that the meddlesome Mrs. Bakshi sets out to find suitable marriage matches for her four beautiful daughters -- only to have her plans foiled when the ravishing but headstrong Lalita (Aishwarya Rai, known as the “Queen of Bollywood”) announces she will only marry for love. When Lalita meets the wealthy American hotel tycoon Will Darcy (Martin Henderson), at last sparks fly. But is it love or spite that’s creating so much tension between them?

Lalita is incensed by Darcy’s seeming lack of respect for India; while Darcy is flummoxed by Lalita’s impression of him as a spoiled American. And yet . . . they can’t seem to stop thinking of one another. Alternately enchanted and suspicious, Lalita and Darcy soon fall prey to a series of comedic misunderstandings as Lalita is pursued by two other suitors: the mysterious English lawyer Wickham (Daniel Gillies) and the hilariously unsuitable California transplant Kholi (Nitin Ganatra), with whom a marriage has been arranged.

It seems the closer Lalita and Darcy get to one another the more pride and prejudice conspire to come between them -- until their undeniable feelings knock all their preconceptions about each other’s lives and countries for a loop. Jetting from the beaches of Goa to the streets of London and all the way to Santa Monica, BRIDE & PREJUDICE crosses countries and cultures -- and erupts into dream-like fantasies of song and dance -- as Lalita and Darcy maneuver through the modern world towards love.