by Jan Lisa Huttner, IWPA Printers Row Chair
Here Comes the Bollywood Bride
by Jan Lisa Huttner, IWPA Printers Row Chair
Gurinder Chadha: that name will be generating lots of buzz this winter!
Chadha's first feature film, Bhaji on the Beach, received a BAFTA nomination (that's a "British Oscar") for best film of 1994. Her next film, the Thanksgiving dramedy What's Cooking?, brought her a Best Director Award from the London Film Critics Circle in 2002. Then she released Bend it Like Beckham, a mainstream charmer that broke box office records in the U.K. and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture in 2003.
Chadha's new film Bride and Prejudice, scheduled for release this December, is already on track to become an Oscar candidate as well as one of the biggest moneymakers of the year. In an interview with the Toronto Sun, Chadha referred to her loving version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as "Bollywood meets Fiddler on the Roof."
Born in Kenya and raised in England, Chadha has personal experience with cross cultural love affairs. She met her husband, Japanese-American Paul Mayeda Berges, at the Toronto International Film Festival while promoting Bhaji on the Beach in 1994. He's since become her partner and collaborator.
For previews of Bride and Prejudice, log on to the official web site.
Jan Lisa Huttner is the Managing Editor of FILMS FOR TWO: The Online Guide for Busy Couples.