atul_khare

Pride and Prejudice is a Bollywood crossover musical that's more or less a pretty straightforward adaptation of Jane Austen's novel. The film has the emotional gravity of a feather, but it's aided by some lively cinematography by Santosh Sivan, colorful choreography, a pretty good score by Anu Malik and a comely cast that should set many a heart throbbing.

Gurinder Chadda is well aware of the limitations of the material and genre and does well to keep the film moving at a fairly brisk pace.

This is the kind of film that's best enjoyed in the big screen and the chances are that you will have a good time when you are watching it. Just remember that this isn't something to ruminate about after you leave the theater -- it might be masala flavoured, but it's bubble gum after all...

Jungle features some outstanding cinematography by Vijay Arora. Shot in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio with a wide angle camera lens, it does of stunning job of capturing the ambiance of the jungle, including wildlife. It also features some fine performances by Urmila and the "bad guys", including Vijay Raaz who is especially memorable. In contrast, I thought that Sunil Shetty was passable at best and IMO he's too soft faced to play a cop obsessed with tracking down his arch foe.

Ram Gopal Verma does a fine job of creating suspense and some scenes in the jungle are especially gut wrenching. However, he too is hampered by the commercial considerations of Bollywood cinema and the ill placed songs -- which border on the absurd at times -- don't help matters any.

The film's biggest let down is its screenplay, which cannot decide whether it wants to be romance story or a gritty thriller. The characters seem to engage in downright silly behaviour even when faced with life threatening situations. The villain's actions are inexplicable and some things seem to have been written with the express purpose of driving the storyline forward.

That said, considering the trash that Bollywood churns out, this is certainly one of the better films and Verma should be commended for trying to break the narrow formulaic cinematic mould.