Pathe Pictures presents in association with UK Film Council
and in association with Kintop Pictures and Bend It Films
a Nayar Chadha Production
produced in association with Inside Track
A FILM BY
GURINDER CHADHA
BRIDE & PREJUDICE
Aishwarya Rai
Martin Henderson
Daniel Gillies
Naveen Andrews
Produced by Gurinder Chadha and Deepak Nayar
Screenplay by Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges
Directed by Gurinder Chadha
Running Time: 112 minutes
Medienbetreuung:
Esther Bühlmann
Niederdorfstrasse 54
8001 Zürich
Tel. 01 261 08 57
Fax 01 261 08 64
mail@estherbuehlmann.ch
Filmverleih:
Monopole Pathé Films AG
Neugasse 6, Postfach, 8031 Zürich
Tel. 01 277 70 83
miriam.nussbaumer@pathefilms.ch
DIRECTORS’ STATEMENT
At the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, days before I started shooting ‘Bend it
like Beckham’, my friend Cameron McCracken at Pathe Films asked me if I
wanted to make a musical. He knew that in 1997 I had tried to make a
British Bollywood extravaganza which combined my love of Bollywood and
American musicals. A month into that shoot the money from the Indian
stars/producers dried up and the picture was never completed. It remains
the only bad experience I’ve ever had making a film.
Did I want to go back there - to the world of glamorous stars, endless
costume changes, flamboyant musical numbers with hundreds of dancers and
erotically charged fountains? Of course I did. A week later I had an
epiphany and knew exactly what I wanted to do. Growing up, ‘Pride &
Prejudice’ was my favourite book. I decided that like David Beckham, Jane
Austen was another delicious English icon ripe for subversion. I would
take her Elizabeth Bennet – the ultimate, feisty independent heroine of
Brit Lit - and transform her into Lalita Bakshi, a proud firecracker with
brains and balls who wants more than is expected of an Indian girl.
Whereas Austen explored 18th century class divisions, I wanted to look at
the first impressions we make of each other culturally in today’s
increasingly small world. ‘Bride & Prejudice’ was born. The Bennets would
now be the Bakshis from Amritsar - Hicksville, India. Darcy would be a
rich hotelier from LA and his best friend Bingley, a British Indian.
Instead of meeting at dancing balls, the characters would meet at weddings
on three different continents.
My life (and my work) has always been about celebrating the diaspora, about
seamlessly moving from England to India to the States. If so many people
like me move happily across every corner of the world then why couldn’t my
characters and my film language do the same? This was my shot at moving
British filmmaking into a whole new direction.
Once I started adapting the novel, I was convinced Jane Austen was Indian
in a previous life! The characters adapted so freely and the story and
themes fit perfectly into contemporary India. A hysterical mother with
four daughters to marry off, who couldn’t relate to that?
Because I grew up watching Bollywood films in the same cinema that
screened ‘The Sound of Music’ and ‘West Side Story’, I’ve always had a great
affection for the playful chaos of Bollywood. Like India itself, it’s a
cinema of vibrant contradictions that works when it seems it shouldn’t.
Any cinema which combines boundless emotion with heartfelt innocence (no
kissing, we’re Indian!), laugh-out-loud humour, cheesy punch-ups and a
minimum of seven spectacular musical sequences is alright by me.
I could always see behind the kitsch (which is fab in all its camp glory)
and see the gifted technicians beneath the colourful surface. I wanted to
fuse Bollywood legends in front of and behind the camera with an
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international cast and crew that would take Bollywood places it’s never
travelled.
Choosing my collaborators to bring the script to life was a joy. Anu
Malik is the greatest Bollywood composer of infectious pop songs with
joyful melodies. Saroj Khan is the godmother of Indian dance who’s
choreographed hundreds of songs since she started at age 13. Santosh
Sivan (a director in his own right of ‘The Terrorist’ and ‘Asoka’) is a
masterful cinematographer who’s won more National Awards (India’s
equivalent to the Oscars) than anyone can remember.
For my Lizzie Bennet, I chose Aishwarya Rai (‘Devdas’), a bewitching talent
Julia Roberts described as ‘the most beautiful woman in the world’. For
Darcy, I cast Martin Henderson (‘The Ring’), a Kiwi Cary Grant who’s a
serious hottie with heart. All that was left was to update my passport and
shoot the thing.
80 days later after a whirlwind shoot in London, Amritsar, Goa, Bombay,
Sedona, Beverly Hillls, Santa Monica and Downtown LA, I have a film which
honours Bollywood because it covers the gamut of all your emotions. And as is always the case when you make a film - it somehow captures all the
different sides of who I am and how people like me see the world. You’ll
laugh, you’ll cry, it’s romantic, it’s funny, it’s camp and it’s genially
subversive!
Gurinder Chadha, Director
“It is a combination of Bollywood and Hollywood, all tied up with a very
British overall sensibility. ”
- Bride & Prejudice director, Gurinder Chadha
From the team behind international smash hit Bend It Like Beckham, comes a
Jane Austen adaptation like never before.
Pride and Prejudice gets the Bollywood treatment and the result is a
spectacular fusion of East meets West. Austen’s classic love story unfolds in
a riot of colour and emotion, song and dance that jet-sets from rural India via
London to Los Angeles.
A must see for lovers of musicals, Bollywood, and ultimately for romantics
everywhere, the warmth, affection, humour and enthusiasm of director
Gurinder Chadha’s interpretation is inescapable.
Bollywood’s reigning queen Aishwarya Rai debuts in her first English
language film as our heroine Lalita (Austen’s Lizzie Bennet). Rising star
Martin Henderson takes on Darcy in a wet T-shirt (Martin’s work includes
Gore Verbinski’s The Ring and forthcoming feature Little Fish opposite Cate
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Blanchett and Sam Neill). Naveen Andrews (The English Patient) is Balraj.
Indira Varma is his sarcastic sister Kiran. Nitin Ganatra (Canterbury Tales
[BBC]) is Kholi, Austen’s comic relief Mr Collins, and Daniel Gillies,
impressing this summer as Tobey Maguire’s nemesis in Spiderman II, is
attractive bounder Wickham.
Director/producer/writer Gurinder Chadha (Bhaji on the Beach, What’s
Cooking, Bend It Like Beckham), producer Deepak Nayar (Heat and Dust,
Lost Highway, The Buena Vista Social Club, Bend It Like Beckham) and writer
Paul Mayeda Berges (What’s Cooking, Bend It Like Beckham) combine their
knowledge of commercial Western cinema with the established Bollywood
expertise of choreographer Saroj Khan (Devdas), composer Anu Malik,
lyricists the Akhtar family and cinematographer Santosh Sivan (Asoka).
Bride & Prejudice is a fully-fledged first. Living proof that by interweaving
Eastern and Western filming traditions, acting styles and talent – both on and
off camera - a film of universal accessibility and impact can be created.
The Players
Aishwarya Rai
Lalita Bakshi
Martin Henderson
William Darcy
Naveen Andrews
Balraj
Indira Varma
Kiran
Namrata Shirodkar
Jaya Bakshi
Peeya Rai Chodhuri
Lakhi Bakshi
Meghnaa
Maya Bakshi
Nadira Babbar
Mrs Bakshi
Anupam Kher
Mr Bakshi
Daniel Gillies
Johnny Wickham
Nitin Ganatra
Mr Kholi
Marsha Mason
Catherine Darcy
Alexis Bledel
Georgie Darcy
Sonali Kulkarni
Chandra Lamba
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‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession
of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’
- Jane Austen
“No Life Without Wife”
- Chadha Family Saying
Meddlesome mother Mrs Bakshi (Nadira Babbar) is an eligible-bachelorseeking missile for her four long-suffering daughters. And, when the ultimate
wealthy single male, one Balraj (Naveen Andrews), jets into town for a
wedding, he’s a match made in heaven for her eldest daughter Jaya (Namrata
Shirodkar).
Balraj has dragged along his disdainful sister Kiran (Indira Varma), and his
best friend, American hotelier Darcy (Martin Henderson). During the
spectacular wedding dance, Balraj is bewitched by Jaya and Darcy’s eyes
alight on Jaya’s younger sister Lalita (Aishwarya Rai) – an intelligent feisty
beauty. But Darcy’s incompetence on the dance floor combined with a pair of
falling-down trousers conspire that he snubs Lalita and she resolves he’s a
pompous snob – taking the first opportunity to put his naïve views on India to
rights.
Balraj continues to court Jaya and invites her and Lalita on holiday with them
in Goa. The romance of the beautiful beach setting is offset by Darcy and
Lalita’s sparring. While there, Lalita meets handsome traveller Johnny
Wickham (Daniel Gilles) who emerges from the surf, and who tells her Darcy
is a nasty piece of work.
The sisters return home, arriving simultaneously with Mr Kholi (Nitin Ganatra),
a distant relative, now a wealthy but lovably bumbling and awkward LA
accountant who has come to choose one unfortunate sister to be his bride.
With Jaya practically engaged to Balraj, Lalita knows she’s first in the
proposal firing line and is hugely relieved when Wickham pays a visit, endears
himself to her loving father (Anupam Kher) and flirts outrageously with her.
At a local traditional dance, Lalita re-encounters Darcy, risks life and limb
dancing with Kholi and introduces the latter to her best friend Chandra.
Meanwhile Mrs Bakshi invites Balraj, Kiran and Darcy to dinner in the hope
that Balraj will propose to Jaya.
Balraj disappoints poor Mrs Bakshi (not helped by sister Maya’s [Meghnaa’s]
mad cobra dance before dinner) but Darcy, speaking candidly about the death
of his father and relationship with his mother and sister, finally impresses
Lalita.
The same cannot be said for Kholi’s subsequent proposal and Lalita rejects
her comedy suitor. Mrs Bakshi is devastated; Mr Bakshi delighted.
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Suddenly all glamorous visitors evaporate, leaving the house quiet and the
girls saddened but still checking email for news from suitors – to no avail.
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the family, little sister Lakhi has developed a
serious crush on Wickham.
The quiet is broken by the shock announcement that Kholi and Chandra are
to marry in LA and that the sisters are invited. They travel via London,
Southall specifically, where Jaya’s attempts to see Balraj are thwarted by his
sister, whose invitation to tea and cucumber sandwiches at their estate in
Windsor is a slight as she informs them that Balraj has gone to investigate a
far better marriage proposal.
Checking in at Heathrow, who should be on the same flight to LA but Darcy?
Lalita, distinctly chilly at the prospect, is again forced to reconsider her views
of him when he relinquishes his seat in first class to their mother. And guess
how much Mrs Bakshi loves that!
Hello to Hollywood and wedding preparations at Darcy’s Beverly Hills Hotel.
The family meet his formidable mother Catherine (Marsha Mason) - though
Lalita is up to the challenge and she and Darcy begin a tentative romance.
But Lalita’s feelings are dashed at Kholi and Chandra’s wedding where not
only does Mrs Darcy introduce her to Darcy’s ‘girlfriend’ Anne (actually his
mother’s choice of a girlfriend), but to make matters worse, his sister Georgie
(Alexis Bledel) tells her that it was Darcy who put Balraj off marrying Jaya.
Lalita rejects Darcy’s explanation and confessions of love and storms back to
Blighty very blue. Here there’s more trouble in store, as Lakhi runs away with
Wickham. Darcy appears in pursuit, full of apology and promises to reunite
Jaya and Balraj, then puts great fear into the family with evidence to prove
Wickham is a supreme cad who has previously compromised Darcy’s little
sister Georgie. Darcy and Lalita scour London for the runaways, finally
apprehend Wickham and rescue Lakhi.
All return to India where Jaya and Balraj, Darcy and Lalita tie the eternal knot
in a lavish and vibrant twin wedding ceremony.
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The Guide to Bollywood
Bollywood is a tradition of Hindi speaking cinema, based in Bombay.
Bollywood is an equivalent industry to Hollywood due to a range of
striking similarities:
 Bollywood dominates Indian film production, making between 800 and
900 films per annum.
 It is a commercial, non State aided industry whose indigenous product
outperforms all foreign competition at the box office.
 Bollywood, like Hollywood has far reaching popularity. Both in nonHindi speaking regions and in the Indian diaspora internationally.
Every Bollywood film is punctuated by a series of elaborate song and
dance numbers.
 These articulate the emotions of the principles and their romantic and
erotic fantasies.
 There will also be an ‘item’number, where a female dancer –
disassociated with the plot – will writhe seductively straight to camera
apropos of pure eroticism.
 The song and dance incorporation is a tradition based in classical
Indian theatre and urbanized Parsi theatre of the 19th and 20th century.
In recent years, everything from disco to aerobics have influenced the
choreography.
 Songs from the films are now released prior to the film opening and
their pre-release success is an indicator of potential box office.
Bollywood films follow the same narrative formula.
 It will be a melodramatic and emotional roller coaster.
 There will be a romance between a personable handsome hero and a
beautiful girl.
 Obstacles will be thrown in the way of their love – mutual
misunderstandings, family objections and prior attachments.
 Family will be central. The hero is often close to his mother and the
father is usually absent.
 The heroine is traditionally the object of the hero’s desire and is rarely
given any other function or occupation.
 Villainous forces will be at work.
 The plot will be lightened by comedy.
 There will be a negotiation between traditional Indian and modern
Indian values.
 There will be a happy ending.
 The overall purpose is escapist entertainment watched en masse to
ensure being swept away on a wave of infectious enthusiasm.
 The over-riding message and moral is ‘Love Conquers All ‘ – but
difficulties will get in its way.
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No Sex Please, We’re Bollywood. Sorry but in Bollywood, there’s simply no
kissing – it’s heavily frowned upon by the Indian censors and the public. The
musical numbers are used to substitute for sexual contact, dancing is
eroticized and the camera has a field day with the female stars erogenous
zones (there’s a common focus on the navel – left bare by traditional saris).
Stars also often get wet – their clothes sticking to the bodies in a provocative
and sensual manner.
Bride and Prejudice subscribes to the Bollywood formula in all respects
bar the following:
 Our heroine cannot be described as arm candy, Lalita Bakshi can give
any man a real run for his money and has enough feminist savvy to
make Germaine Greer proud.
 Our hero is more complex too – his character arc is anti-hero and
villain even, before he embraces Indian society, Lalita and his role as
hero.
 Gurinder Chadha has broken the production mould by uniting
American, British and Indian actors, shooting on and off Indian soil,
using Indian, American and British crews and fusing Western musical
composition and choreography with traditional Bollywood.
 Chadha amazed her Indian production team by providing scripts prior
to shooting [most Bollywood actors are given their lines on the day],
having call sheets (unheard of in Bollywood production), and
rehearsing her actors (another first).
Recent attempts to broaden Bollywood’s market appeal have included:
 Devdas (Sanjay Leela Bhansali, 2002) has been one of the most
ambitious and successful films in Bollywood to date. It was the first
Bollywood film to receive a special screening at the Cannes Film
Festival and broke box-office records in India and the United States.
 Lagaan (Ashutosh Gowariker 2001) a film about a cricket match
against the British in the time of the Raj was one of the most expensive
films ever produced by Bollywood. On release in the UK it broke into
the Box Office Top 10, and received an Academy Award nomination for
Best Foreign Film.
 Other films to cross the East West divide have been Asoka (Santosh
Sivan, 2001), Salaam Bombay (Mira Nair, 1988), and Bandit Queen
(Shekhar Kapur, 1994) which caused controversy by directly
challenging the caste system and the role of women in modern Indian
society.
Bollywood fuses with Hollywood In cinema the influence has already
begun with the success of East is East, The Guru and Bend It Like Beckham.
Film Fact At the beginning of every day on a Bollywood film set a prayer is
said to the camera – viewed as a demi-god. Gurinder was pleased to keep up
the tradition.
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ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
East Meets West
Bride and Prejudice is an edible feast of both Eastern and Western filmmaking
traditions.
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Bollywood meets the Hollywood musical. As Gurinder explains
‘Bride and Prejudice is about the musicals that I grew up with as a
child. The Bollywood movies as well as classics like the Sound of
Music, Fiddler on the Roof, the Wizard of Oz and Grease. They have
all come together in a flamboyant spectacle of emotion, colour, song
and dance. You can find a bit of everything in here.’
A combination of acting styles. The cast are an international mix of
American, Bollywood and British so all the actors came to the project
schooled in different techniques. According to Gurinder ‘we had
American based actors who worked the Hollywood way, the British
actors, trained in Britain and versed in film, theatre and television here,
and the Bollywood actors with their over the top, physical and gesture
orientated style.’ The cast all adapted to a happy common ground and
confessed that under Gurinder’s direction they learnt a great deal from
each other.
Three crews. ‘Working in three different languages and three different
cultural spaces,’ says Gurinder ‘the only solution was to employ three
separate crews.’ Past experience working the Bollywood and
Hollywood way has taught Gurinder that ‘wherever you go, you have to
work the way they work in those countries. So, when we were in
England we worked like a British crew and when we were in India we
worked as much like an Indian crew as we could and then, when we
were in America, we worked a kind of American way. As a director my
energy was pulled in lots of different directions.’
Music and dance find the middle ground. Chadha and producer
Deepak Nayar commissioned both Anu Malik – one of India’s most
renowned composers - and Craig Pruess [Golden Eye, Bend It Like
Beckham] to come up with a score to merge Eastern and Western
musical preferences. ‘The music and songs are Bollywood based,’
Chadha explains ‘but arranged and produced to suit what a Western
ear will like.’ Similarly with the dance sequences, Chadha wanted
India’s famed choreographer Saroj Khan to ‘turn out the traditional
Bollywood material and blend it with a Western influence.’ Saroj also
had to train actors Naveen Andrews and Daniel Gillies from scratch –
neither having danced on film before. Andrews says ‘she worked one
on one with me for hours!’ And Gillies explains with awe ‘she is so
revered in India that you touch her feet before you rehearse!’
Location, location, location. The home of the Bakshi family is located
in rural Amritsar in the state of Punjab, India. Producer Deepak
describes it as a lively community with horns blaring, dogs barking and
people everywhere. The action then moves to the sultry moonlit Goa
on the Arabian Sea, then bustling Mumbai, London – the largest city in
Europe steeped with history, and sunny Los Angeles including the
world famous beach at Santa Monica.
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From Pride to Bride
“One day I was standing in my kitchen, washing dishes and I was just
thinking about Bollywood. I then realised the way to do the film I
wanted to do, is to make it accessible to a Western audience. That’s
when I came up with the idea of, let’s take something so British, so
English, a great English literary classic like Pride and Prejudice and
adapt it into a Bollywood setting.”
- Gurinder Chadha
Pride and Prejudice has been voted by the British public as one of their
favourite books in a recent BBC poll, and is a novel that’s welcomed a
plethora of adaptations. So why was it ripe for Gurinder Chadha’s
interpretation?
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“The themes of Jane Austen’s novel are a ‘perfect fit’ for a
Bollywood style film,” explains Gurinder. “The themes are so
pertinent to contemporary India, especially a place like rural Amritsar,
where I decided the Bakshi family should live. Austen’s focus on
money and marriage, false pride and false nobility are alive and well in
modern India.’
The 19th century issues pertain to 21st century India. Gurinder
continues, “Jane Austen was preoccupied with the horrendous idea
that women were not worthy of anything, unless they were married, or
unless they had money. Intelligence didn’t count for anything. Most
parents today dream to have their daughters married off respectively.”
Feature Ideas
East Goes West. An examination of key Indian/British fusion films of recent
years and their international impact (Bend It Like Beckham, East is East, The
Guru).
Character Study. Lalita Bakshi as an inspirational figure and representative
of feisty Indian woman tackling established prejudices. Source real life case
studies to accompany her story.
Compare and contrast interpretations of Austen’s anti-hero, William Darcy,
from Laurence Olivier in 1940 to David Rintoul in the first BBC adaptation
(1980), to the prior champion – Colin Firth in BBC’s 1995 version.
Strong Female Leads. A profile of Aishwarya Rai, Miss World 1994, and
Namrata Shirodkar, Miss India 1993, as role models. Proof that Indian
women are now achieving global recognition!
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Fashion - How to be the ultimate goddess and get the Bollywood look from
the high street. Interview costume designer Savinder K Mahil, who made a
splash of late designing a sari for Cherie Blair.
Pop Princesses. Ashanti has a key number at the centre of Bride &
Prejudice. Look at how other R&B stars/musicians are infiltrating
blockbusters: Beyoncé (Austin Powers: Goldmember); J-Lo (Enough, Angel
Eyes, Maid in Manhattan, Out of Sight), Samantha Mumba (The Time
Machine); and Kylie Minogue (Moulin Rouge).
Rising Sun. An examination of young British Asian acting talent: Profile Nitin
Ganatra, Indira Varma, Naveen Andrews alongside the likes of Jimi Mistry,
Naveen Chowdhry and Parminder Nagra,
She Makes and She Breaks. Gurinder Chadha, through Bend It Like
Beckham, launched Keira Knightley (King Arthur) and Parminder Nagra (ER)
into the international forum. We speculate that the same will be true for
Aishwarya Rai and Martin Henderson.
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Bride and Prejudice Cast & Crew Biographies
MARTIN HENDERSON (William Darcy)
“He’s got a bit of the Cary Grant about him.”
- Gurinder Chadha
“It was hard to play a character so reserved and dismissive of the Indian
culture when I was having such a ball revelling in all its wonders.”
- Martin Henderson
Born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Martin started acting at age
thirteen when an open casting at his school landed him a role in the television
show Strangers. Martin then moved on to starring in the popular New
Zealand drama Shortland Street for three years. In 1995, he moved to
Sydney, where he played an Olympian in training on the series Sweat. He
then was cast as the male lead, opposite Radha Mitchell in the feature ick, a
film set in the world of the Sydney ballet. In 1997, Martin moved to New York
and began a two-year program of study in acting at the Neighbourhood
Playhouse. His major Hollywood break came with the horror hit, The Ring,
opposite Naomi Watts. Martin currently lives in Los Angeles.
AISHWARYA RAI (Lalita Bakshi)
“Ash embraces everything that is great about Bollywood in terms of
beauty, emotions, singing and dancing.’
- Gurinder Chadha
“Elizabeth is the one character I have always connected with in the
novel.”
- Aishwarya Rai
As a science and architecture student, modelling on the side culminated in
Aishwarya (nicknamed Ash) winning Miss World for India in 1994. With her
stunning looks—Julia Roberts calls her "the world's most beautiful woman"—
Ash fast became one of India's most famous models having landed a
prestigious Pepsi campaign and several Vogue spreads. Bollywood called
and she debuted in Mani Rathnam's Iruvar (1997). Aur Paar Ho Gaya'
(1997), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (2000), Mohabbatein (2000), Hamara Dil
Aapke Paas Hai (2001) and Devdas (2002) followed. In 2003, Ash became
the first Indian actor to be a member of the Cannes jury. Of late, she has
joined Catherine Deneuve and Andie MacDowell as a member of the elite
L'Oreal Dream Team. She’s graced the covers of India Today, TIME
Magazine and was listed on Rolling Stone Magazine's annual "Hot List". For
2004, she’s starring in Chaos opposite Meryl Streep, Singularity opposite
Brendan Fraser for director Roland Joffe, and will end the year with Mistress
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of Spices, once again working with Gurinder who will produce the film with
Paul Mayeda Berges as Director..
DANIEL GILLIES (Wickham)
“Wickham was the one that we just kept scouting for in London and the
USA. When we saw Daniel on tape he had the charisma to ensure Lalita
couldn’t help but be attracted to Wickham.’
- Deepak Nayar
“Wickham is the polar opposite to Darcy. He’s the earth bound traveller
– the bohemian.”
- Daniel Gillies
Daniel is currently starring as Tobey Maguire’s nemesis and Kirsten Dunst’s
new love interest in the blockbuster, smash hit Spiderman II. Next up Daniel
will star in John Duigan’s Head in the Clouds, opposite Charlize Theron and
Penelope Cruz.
Born in Canada and raised in Hamilton, New Zealand, Gillies trained in
Auckland at The United School of Performing Arts.
NAVEEN ANDREWS (Balraj)
“I was so impressed by how he embraced the role and spent hours
rehearsing the dance numbers.”
- Gurinder Chadha
Having gained world-recognition with his heart-stopping role in Anthony
Minghella’s Academy Award®-winning The English Patient, Naveen plays
Balraj — the best friend to William Darcy. Naveen also starred in Mira Nair’s
Kama Sutra, and the acclaimed TV series The Buddha of Suburbia.
NITIN GANATRA (Mr Kholi)
“I think Nitin had so many levels of performance I couldn’t see anyone
but him playing Mr Kholi.”
- Gurinder Chadha
“It’s kitsch, it’s camp, it’s melodramatic, it’s big and it’s wild and
combined with a Western take…it works. Bride & Prejudice is the first of
its kind.”
- Nitin Ganatra
While he has appeared in Anthony Minghella’s Truly, Madly, Deeply and Mike
Leigh’s award-winning Secrets & Lies, Bride & Prejudice is Nitin’s first major
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film role. He has previously focused on working in theatre – including with
Sam Mendes and the Donmar Warehouse, and garnered great reviews for his
television work in The Canterbury Tales. He can soon be seen in Brian W.
Cook’s Colour Me Kubrick.
NAMRATA SHIRODKAR (Jaya Bakshi)
“Jaya is the more conventional sister. The one who wants to keep her
parents happy.’
- Gurinder Chadha
“It’s a true fusion of East and West—a getting together of different
schools of acting, accents and ways of working.”
- Namrata Shirodkar
Namrata was crowned Miss India in 1993 and went on to be runner-up in the
Miss Universe competition that same year. Namrata continued modelling
then followed her elder sister, the famous Shilpa Shirodkar, to Mumbai. In
1998, Namrata debuted in Hero Hindustani, followed by Vaastav, Aghaaz and
Tera Mera Saath Rahen.
INDIRA VARMA (Kiran)
“The guys would love watching her in action.”
- Aishwarya Rai
“Bollywood actors have amazing camera skills. AND they can dance and
act at the same time. We Brits learnt a lot from watching them in action.”
– Indira Varma
Having appeared in several television series’, including BBC 1’s The
Cantrebury Tales and The Whistle Blower, Indira’s film roles include Kama
Sutra and Clancy’s Kitchen.
ANUPAM KHER (Mr Bakshi)
“I cast Anupam as Mr Bakshi because I think he did such a fantastic job
in Bend It Like Beckham. He has delivered a very still performance in a
film where everyone else is just moving all the time.”
- Gurinder Chadha
Born in 1955, Anupam is a veteran of the Hindi film industry with over 300
films to his credit. Anupam debuted in Saraansh in1984 for director, Mahesh
Bhatt. Over his career, he has won 8 Filmfare awards, the Indian equivalent
to the Oscar®, as well as numerous other awards. Anupam was last seen as
Parminder Nagra’s father in the world-wide smash hit, Bend it Like Beckham.
He is chairman of the National School of Drama in India, as well as chairman
of India’s Film Censor Board. He has been awarded India’s highest civilian
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honour, the Padam Shri, for his contribution to cinema and theatre. He also is
probably one of the few actors in the world to have performed his own
autobiography on stage.
ASHANTI (as Herself)
“The Ashanti song is politically very important. In Bollywood movies
there’s always an ‘item’ number, where a very sexy girl gets up and
sings a song accompanied by a provocative dance. It’s a long tradition
which can be entirely disassociated from the action. Here we’ve
adapted it to an MTV groove in Goa and it coincides with sexual tension
and sparks between our four leads.”
- Gurinder Chadha
New Yorker Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas launched her R&B career in 1994.
Astoundingly, she wrote all twelve tracks on her hit debut album appropriately
titled, Ashanti. Her songs Foolish, Always on Time and What’s Luv made the
top 10 in one week. Her second album, Chapter 2, has been released to
critical acclaim and most recently Ashanti has appeared in the highly popular
television shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
She also is co-starring with Samuel L Jackson in the upcoming feature, All
Day Long.
Crew
GURINDER CHADHA (Director, Producer, Writer)
“I want to bring traditional Bollywood into Western homes and Western
hearts.”
- Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha began her career as a BBC news reporter. She went on to
direct award-winning documentaries for the BFI, BBC and Channel Four. Her
debut feature Bhaji on the Beach won the jury prize at the Locarno
International Film Festival, received a BAFTA Nomination for Best British Film
(1994) and won the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Newcomer
to British Cinema. Her second feature What’s Cooking? was the opening
night film of the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, and was voted joint audience
award-winner in the New York Film Critics’ 2000 season. Gurinder won Best
British Director at the London Film Critics’ Circle Awards. Gurinder’s Bend It
Like Beckham was a UK box-office smash taking over £11 million. A critical
and commercial success internationally, it topped box-office charts in the U.S,
Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and South Africa. Bend It Like Beckham
won the audience favourite film awards at the Locarno, Sydney and Toronto
film festivals. The film also garnered a Golden Globe nomination for Best
Picture (Musical or Comedy), a BAFTA nomination for Best British Film, a
European Film Academy nomination for Best Film, and a Writers Guild of
America nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
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DEEPAK NAYAR (Producer)
“We’re making something really innovative. No one, anywhere in the
world is doing anything like this.”
- Deepak Nayar
Deepak began working as a production manager with Merchant Ivory on Heat
and Dust. Subsequent collaborations include work with David Lynch as
Assistant Director on the television sensation Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me,
the feature Wild at Heart and as producer on Lost Highway. Deepak also
produced Wim Wenders’ The End of Violence and The Buena Vista Social
Club. After working together on Bend It Like Beckham, he and Gurinder have
become firm friends — Deepak and Gurinder are producing Mistress of
Spices, which will be the directorial debut of writer Paul Mayeda Berges.
PAUL MAYEDA BERGES (Writer)
“Bollywood is a very non-cynical cinema – it’s incredible.”
- Paul Mayeda Berges
Bride & Prejudice is the third film written by Paul and Gurinder. Their first
collaboration was What’s Cooking?—the first British script to be invited to the
Sundance Institute’s Writer’s Lab. It was nominated for Best British
Screenplay at the London Film Critics’ Circle Awards. Paul is the former
Director of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. He
will next make his directorial debut with Mistress of Spices, starring Aishwarya
Rai.
SANTOSH SIVAN (Director of Photography)
“Santosh is the best cinematographer in India and certainly one of the
top DOP’s in the world. I knew he could blend a glamorous rich
Bollywood flavour with Western visual storytelling techniques.”
- Gurinder Chadha
Santosh is one of India’s premiere directors of photography. His credits
include Meenaxi: Tale of 3 Cities, Tehzeeb, Asoka - which he directed as well
- Marudha Naayagam, Theeviravadhi, Fiza, Phir Bhi Dir Hai Hindustanti.
Santosh has also gained acclaim for his directorial work on Theeviravaathi,
The Terrorist, Malli and Halo.
JUSTIN KRISH (Editor)
Currently, Justin is editing Kirk Jones’ Nanny McPhee, starring Emma
Thompson. His previous credits include Bend it Like Beckham, Al's Lads,
Sorted, Green Fingers, Beautiful People, The Life of Stuff and Silent Scream
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for which Justin won Best Editor at the Atlantic Film Festival. He was also
Associate Editor on Shekhar Kapur's Oscar®-winning Elizabeth starring Cate
Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush and Joseph Fiennes.
NICK ELLIS (Production Designer)
Nick was the Production Designer on Bend it Like Beckham and Oscar®
winning short Killing Joe (Mehdi Norowzian).
CRAIG PRUESS (Composer)
Pruess runs Heaven and Earth Music, a publishing, record & production
company and has worked with Joe Cocker, Cliff Richard, Petula Clark, Manic
Street Preachers, Def Leppard, Cutting Crew, Dire Straits and Elton John.
His film credits include Bend it Like Beckham, Bhaji on the Beach, What's
Cooking?, A Little Princess, Golden Eye, Hear My Song and Funny Bones.
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