The U.S. version of the Bride and Prejudice trailer was recently released (thanks, Abhi). It’s getting heavy promotion, it runs before The Aviator in New York City.
What happened in the marketing speaks volumes about how the world perceives Americans. The trailer has been recut not as a musical but as a romantic comedy. The U.S. version cuts down the bhangra centerpiece and the pajama song from the international trailer. The plot has been simplified, like the U.S. version of Bombay Dreams; the subplot with the second male lead has been removed.
In a nod to the U.S., Martin Henderson gets a lot more lines, the R&B artist Ashanti is featured prominently in the voiceover, Indira Verma makes a crack about American Idol, and there are a couple of Baywatch, L.A. and surfer shots that weren’t in the international trailer. India’s Third World-ness is played up for comic effect, there’s no mention of Amritsar in the subtitle and there are precious few turbaned guys for a film set in Punjab (the ones who do exist hurry by, out of focus).
I watched the trailer live last night and heard very little audience reaction. Either it fell flat, or the audience didn’t know what to think. The serpent dance sequence at the very end drew a few titters. It wasn’t what I expected from a New York crowd, which is generally pretty down with desi culture.
The U.S. poster is visually striking, it makes me happy just looking at it. I absolutely love the festive confetti, the purple sky and the contrasting field of red. L.A. is featured prominently, and the Taj Mahal makes an appearance for no apparent reason except as shorthand for India, much like the Hollywood sign.
Compared to the international poster, the leads are bigger and the supporting actors smaller; it’s clearly pitched domestically as a romantic comedy rather than an ensemble musical. There’s no Naveen Andrews, Anupam Kher or Nitin Ganatra, all of whom are better-known in the U.K. The fun, ’70s, ABBA-style film logo is now a simple variant of Garamond in gold and purple, which projects both warmth and royalty and reflects the U.S.’ lower tolerance of cheese. A clef replaces the ampersand as the only visual indication that the film is actually a musical.
The film opens on February 11th in the U.S., right before Valentine’s Day. Watch the new trailer.
Previous posts on Bride and Prejudice: 1, 2, 3, 4. Also see the international trailer. Finally, marketing analyses of Bombay Dreams (1, 2) and The Life Aquatic.
Now I haven’t been following this film as closely as Manish BUT, from watching the trailer, I have to say that I’m a bit disappointed.
The KEY to Bend it Like Beckham was that it wasn’t Yet Another Indian Movie. The plot, the characters, the premise, everything was unique, reached out to a broad audience, and told a new story.
But this one? A bride who’s been pledged to one guy but is developing feelings for someone else (I’m guessing here… it’s what the trailer seems to indicate). Shot in Beverly Hills? The wealthy suitor (prince)? The homely step sisters? Puh-leaze.
The guy just happens to be white and that will no doubt feed a few of the gags but it’s hard to see why this story HAS to be told that way. By contrast, try and take the “liminess” out of Beckham and the story falls apart.
I dunno – maybe when the flick comes out I’ll be more impressed (seeing Aish on an SF silver screen is enough to get $7 out of me 😉
Blame Jane Austen, though yeah, Gurinder doesn’t do edgy stuff.
You can already see Aishwarya at a Bay Area multiplex.
I tittered at the snake dance also…
Sad to hear the movie is getting white-washed in its American promotion. I recently saw the movie in Kuala Lumpur with a predominately Indian audience. We all laughed in the same places (I’m a Black American woman and my friend is Chinese-American.) I thought it was really good for the Bollywood genre. The movie had a sound script which is nice for a Bollywood movie. Ash looked wonderful but she really can’t act but it doesn’t seem to matter. Naveen Andrews and Nitin Ganatra were good too. I loved Ashanti’s number! I liked everyone in the film except the white guy played by Martin Henderson. Does Gurinder Chanda really believe that people know of him? He is the blandest white man on the planet. My friend and I hated him!
I’m part of that NYC crowd and this trailer sucked. Ashanti…whattahell? The NYC crowd would rather see more of the genuine article than this pastel pastiche. Rai is also waaaaaaaaaaaay to hot for this chode. He doesn’t deserve her hand, he deserves the ring that ate him the first time around…
Ummm… styling a musical as anything else is seriously bad news. I laughed so hard it hurt while watching a movie that had not been promoted as a musical. And it wasn’t supposed to be funny.
Having said that, I’m sure I’ll go see it.
-D
I don’t know Manish–I think you are a bit too harsh in your fisking. In both the international and American trailer, the ampersand is replaced by the clef, and both have a plethora of musical references in them. If I remember correctly, the pajama song was in English, and I saw Bhangra and raas in both clips. Naveen Andrews, Namrata Shirodkar (who does a surprisingly excellent job in the film), and Nitin Ganatra were all featured prominently in the clip, and like you said, Indira Verma even has a line, and most Americans don’t even know who she is (Andrews is much better known in the states, afterall he has been in the English Patient, was featured in a USA film about the Chippendales, and stars in Lost).
After seeing the movie, the film is as much a romantic comedy as it is a musical, and I think both trailers represent that. So, I don’t really agree with your fisking of an overtly desi film’s promotion by saying there isn’t much of a desi element to the campaign. It is impossible to hide that Bride and Prejudice is a desi film. You just can’t take the brown out of it, no matter how hard you try.
The film is awesome and I can’t wait to see it again!
The clef and ensemble observations refer to the poster, not the trailer.
The trailer has songs, but they’re significantly condensed from the international version.
The trailer is plenty desi, and I’m pretty sure the film remains the same. But the U.S. marketing says to me that Americans like simple, linear narratives without a lot of songs. Ironically, a bunch of ‘local’ references were added in exactly the same way you’d localize a product for, say, Spain or Turkey. So much for American sophistication.
Man you guys are all so cynical! I loved this movie… it was so funny… by the way Vinod… it’s not all set in NYC some most of the movie is in India. I know it probably doesn’t portray accurately but it’s kinda good… I bought a copy and watch a lot…. “No life… without wife… oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah..” BUT I gotta add that the part on the beach were the “black gospel choir” joins in… thats a bit WACK! ha ha