Comments on: Bride & Prejudice/Down With Love

By: kira

kira — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 07:54:16 +0000

I love Bollywood songs! Pride&Prejudice was great! Aiswarya was kind of funny when she sang with her sisters! its worth watching if your bored, or don’t know what to watch!!!!!!!!

By: Nat Gertler

Nat Gertler — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 16:03:43 +0000

Sarah Paulson — now there’s a name that is suddenly popping up. I just posted my review of her new show, the Aaron Sorkin hour-long Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip… I suspect people will be paying attention to her and everyone else on the show, although she goes into it as one of the lesser-known folks.

For me, Renee was the weak spot in Down With Love — not for any lack of talent, but just not quite the right person, not quite the right look (those little eyes of hers!) But it was still a lot of fun. And I’m glad they got Tony Randall for it, even if he couldn’t play the Tony Randall role (which Hyde-Pierce handled adeptly.)

By: Dan Coyle

Dan Coyle — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 03:14:54 +0000

I felt that Sarah Paulson walked away with Down With Love, giving 200% more than the rest of the actors in every scene. It was a lovely, vibrant performance.

By: John

John — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 01:18:31 +0000

I was thinking of recommending Bride & Prejudice to you, Johanna, but you beat me to it. You have to keep in mind that it’s not true Bollywood, but a light-hearted tribute. Everyone raves about Monsoon Wedding, so it must be good. My Wife and I just watched it, and thought it was just ‘okay’.

Like Hal, I whole-heartedly recommend Lagaan! Our entire family has enjoyed watching it, and listening to the fabulous soundtrack. It’s a very long movie, but manages to keep you in your seet with a cast of interesting characters, and situations. 5 stars, for sure.

As for older Romantic Comedies, I loved Pillow Talk, but have to recommend Bell, Book & Candle, if you can find it.

Cheers, JOHN :0)

By: Lyle

Lyle — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 23:30:35 +0000

For me, Bride & Prejudice came up with a nice midpoint as someone who likes the brief glimpses of the Bollywood aesthetic I’ve seen but doubts I could actually make it through a film.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 23:11:14 +0000

I haven’t seen any other Bollywood, which might be why this worked so well for me — it’s a wonderful introduction, I think, because of the familiar story. And I love the goofy humor of the “No Life Without Wife” number.

By: Hal Shipman

Hal Shipman — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 22:49:55 +0000

Oh, and I agree about Down With Love. Not without its problems, but it was just plain fun.

By: Hal Shipman

Hal Shipman — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 22:47:03 +0000

As much as I love my Bollywood and also Bend It Like Beckham, I couldn’t sit through Bride and Prejudice. It seemed to lack that essential spark of life the genre usually has. I’m a huge fan of Naveen Andrews and even his presence couldn’t keep my interest. I’ve sat through some truly horrible Bollywood (so it wasn’t simply a matter of the patience you sometimes have to have to get to the good stuff) but I couldn’t make it past 90 minutes with B&P.

As a contrast with another film by a PIO (Person of Indian Origin – they’re huge on the acronyms), I would point out Monsoon Wedding, which much more successfully dances at the edge of Bollywood with the high drama and one song and dance scene (in the context of a wedding reception – not a true Bollywood number which is more like an American musical number – an actual break into song and dance which would never happen in real life).

I don’t know how much true Bollywood you’ve seen, but I would also recommend Lagaan, Dil Chate Hai, The Legend of Bagaht Singh (2002 version with Ajay Devgan) and, my all time favorite, Dil Se. Aishwarya also starred in the acclaimed Devdas, which enjoyed a huge amount of crossover appeal, but didn’t appeal to me that much. With Devdas, you also need to be careful on which version you get (2002) as it’s a classic story which has been filmed many times (imdb.com lists six versions over the years). Specifically, there was a Bengali version also released in 2002 which might cause confusion.