Gurinder Chadha’s 2004 Bride and Prejudice was a Hollywood-meets-Bollywood take on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, with a little bit of modern social satire thrown in. It was, perhaps unexpectedly, a little incoherent and reviews were very mixed. The reviews aggregation site metacritic.com gave it an average score of 55%. You can read our review of the movie here. While I was ambivalent about the movie itself, despite its obvious color and charm, there are some fantastic songs and dances. These led me to check out the soundtrack CD.
For the mostly English songs in Bride and Prejudice, Gurinder Chadha decided to use acclaimed Bollywood musical director, Anu Malik, to write the tracks, asking him to compose numbers likely to appeal to western tastes. Ironically, its the less western-influenced songs that really appeal to my (western) ears.
The soundtrack begins with the ‘Punjabi Wedding Song’ which is a vibrant foot-tapping number, used in the movie for the equivalent of the Meryton Ball scene. It was also, you may remember, a useful showcase for the awesome dancing skills of Lost’s Naveen Andrews. Next is ‘A Marriage has Come to Town,’ which keeps the tempo and fun levels up.
Naveen Andrews grooving to Punjabi Wedding Song
After this there is ‘No Life Without Wife,’ a Grease-inspired all-girl Rock ‘n’ Roll track. This is sung in the movie when Lalita’s sisters tease her about Kholi Saab (Mr. Collins.) ‘No Life without Wide’ was written by Craig Pruess rather than Anu Malik, and it does clash a little with the rest of the songs on the album. Anyone who enjoys a good twist should enjoy it all the same.
American R n B star Ashanti performs two of the songs on the soundtrack (did you spot her in the movie?) They are ‘My Lips are Waiting’ and ‘Touch my Body.’ Whereas most of the songs seem to jump from style to style, the Ashanti tunes are to me the most successful attempts on the album to fuse western and Bollywood influences.
‘Take Me to Love’ parts one and two are also worth a mention. These are romantic ballads performed by the beautiful Aishwarya Rai, with a haunting motif that somehow loses its cheese when separated from its place in the movie. The movie itself is certainly worth a watch for its visual splendor and the glorious songs and dances, as well as the interest it holds for lovers of Pride and Prejudice. The soundtrack, however, is simply a class above. It makes great summer listening and and will give you at least a few more songs to sing in the shower.
Track listing:
1. Punjabi Wedding Song
2. A Marriage Has Come to Town
3. No Life Without Wife
4. Take Me to Love (Part One)
5. Arrogance, Pride and Vanity
6. Dola Dola
7. My Lips are Waiting (AKA Goa Groove)
8. Take me to love (Part Two)
9. Lalita Walks Away
10. Touch My Body
11. Marriage End
Your shape-throwing friend,
Lizzy
