Bride and Prejudice: A Lively Dance With Austen’s Novel on a Global Stage

            Movie adaptations that alter not only the time period of the source material, but the ethnicity and country of occurrence as well are not amply produced, so Chadha’s Bride and Prejudice is a refreshing take on an overly adapted Austen classic. As apparent throughout history, the emphasis placed on wealth and marrying your daughters off to a well-to-do groom transgresses cultures and time periods. In this film, there is an evident parallel between the Bennet family and the Bakshi family in regards to a universal ascension of the societal ladder and the traits of each character, minus a mirrored version of Kitty. While the overall plot of the movie shares similar traits with the novel, the representation of the characters and the delivery of the plot have drastic differences. While it is debatable which elements of the plot are shifted by modernity or by Indian culture, the story delivers a social critique of society’s unwritten social obstacle just as Pride and Prejudice, nonetheless.  

                The main difference between the film and Austen’s novel is the presence of multiple nationalities, of which include contrasting elements and intricate relationships.  By having Darcy as an American, there is an additional possible prestige associated with his character, much how his estate and wealth created for him in the novel. Instead of migrating back and forth between cities and estates within the same country, we have an exchange between a country with a history of colonizing and a country not long removed from a colonized state.  Besides a critique on global society, this film shows how different cultures can critique each other, such as the depiction of flaws observed between American or Indian societies. There is arrogance in the viewpoint that Will Darcy has towards Indian culture, and an equal critique of the ‘Americaness’ of Will Darcy, with less arrogance and more analytical criticism that results from colonization. When Lalita criticizes Will’s mentioning of plans for his family’s hotel expansion, the obvious similarity to colonization cannot be missed. Although the British colonized India, America exists as a colonizing force in the hindsight of Eastern civilization. With having the film version of Elizabeth being won over with an embrace of Indian culture through traditional dance (in addition to Will’s apology and effort to consolidate Balraj and Jaya’s relationship, it seems that Darcy’s departure from cultural reproach, instead of an exception to his class critique, is what wins him admiration.