I know I’m no fun, but I think we’ve established that Jane Austen prequels, sequels, mash-ups, and other literary Photoshoppings make my heart sink and my blood pressure rise. It’s not that I don’t appreciate fandom (heaven knows I appreciate fandom), or that I don’t have a sense of humor about Jane—I do, and anything else would miss the point. This isn’t even a Jane Austen Hates You post; it’s just that, well, I don’t want the Darcys’ sex life play-by-play, and I don’t want to see the Bennet sisters fight monsters (sea, nocturnal blood-sucking, or otherwise), and I don’t want to hear about Jane coping as a swingin’ modern-day vampire looking for love in the big city.
So you’d think my old-lady fists would be shaking full-force over Jane via Bollywood, in the form of Gurinder Chadha’s 2004 remake Bride and Prejudice and the upcoming Emma remake, Aisha.
To which I say, who doesn’t love a good bhangra number?
For me, it’s all a question of basic (if implied) intent. Austen sequels, mash-ups, and the like so often come across as attempts either to paint Jane in a hipper, funnier light—as if she needs the help—or to add to the canon she left behind. The implication is that Jane’s work has no place in contemporary culture if we don’t see it through the familiar lenses of bodice-rippers/Sex and the City/debilitating irony; even straight-up sequels set in Austen’s universe, which are clearly labors of love on the parts of the authors, tend to imply that Jane’s work deserves some kind of follow-up (and, with a brand of guts that I personally could never muster, that they are the one to provide it!). On the other hand, Bollywood Jane is—so far—a work of pure appreciation. In Bride and Prejudice, nobody ever implies that Austen needs changing or supplementing, or that the Indian audience wouldn’t relate to a straight re-telling. There’s no sense that the original novel would be better with a modern-day Indian setting; if anything, it’s the other way around. In fact, the change of scenery and style occurs almost separately from the story, and function as a tribute to the universality of Austen’s themes—as the setting changes, the narrative and key themes remain surprisingly the same.
Besides, Bollywood Jane gives a whole new meaning to the term “choreographed group dance.” I love a ball, indeed:
If Aisha can offer the same thoughtful, affectionate take on Emma, well, bring on the dhol.
austenacious 
I adore a good bhangra number and am very much looking forward to Aisha, though Bride and Prejudice didn’t thrill me (not exactly top shelf Bollywood). I would like to say something in defense of those of us who have overcome the presumption (no small struggle) and mustered the guts to manipulate Austen’s work (lovingly of course). I think it’s demonstrative of how relevant Austen remains in the modern world. Just like the works of Mozart have been adapted into folk songs and sampled in jazz, rock, and hip-hop, the enormous outpouring of Austen fan fiction, good and bad, is testament to her lasting influence. One of the masters of the modern novel, Salmon Rushdie, freely references, paraphrases, and quotes both music and text in his prose. I dare not compare the humble offerings of Austenites to his (or Jane’s) towering genius, but mention it only as a reminder that art is not static but evolving. The greatest literature, like Shakespeare, is properly the subject, like a jazz standard, of endless reinterpretation.
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Ahhhh! I LOVE this song!!! Not so much the movie, though it is gorgeous to look at.
However, it is so worth it just to see Naveen Andrews rockin’ it. (He is perhaps the only Bingley who was ever sexier than Darcy.)
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Have you seen the Bollywood “Sense and Sensibility”?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242572/
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Alexa – I actually quite agree with you about the onslaught of Jane-related works proving her relevance and her gift for speaking to the modern mind and heart, and I don’t at all mind her work being incorporated into other people’s artistic expression. I firmly believe that art is generally derivative by nature, and not in a bad way–I love a good artistic allusion/tribute, myself. I think what bothers me is, in part, the point at which a) referencing Jane as part of an original work or b) reinterpreting Jane’s work entirely becomes something meant to “improve” Jane’s work for a modern audience–in a way that’s something other than a literary experiment.
In any case, thanks for the thoughtful comment. 🙂
Rosemary – It’s possible that I’ve blocked out the rest of the movie due to Andrews’s gettin’ down with his bad self. (Sayid would be MORTIFIED. Heh.)
Caroline – Ooh, I haven’t! Thoughts? Thanks for the rec!
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OOh, a Bollywood S&S…that looks fun!
Miss Ball, I’m with you. Except that sometimes I can’t help myself, so I go ahead and buy whatever new-fangled JA-related things are out there. At the moment, it’s the sheer volume of novels that’s making me want to avoid it altogether.
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