Pride And Poppadoms

Those of you who found yourself gyrating in your seats to the bangra stylings of The Guru earlier this year will be pleased to know that there's plenty more where that came from. Thanks to Bend it Like Beckham director, Gurinder Chadha, the Bollywood groove will be returning to a screen near you, though in a rather unexpected format. While we've all sat through some Jane Austen in our time - some more willingly than others - and all seen Mr Darcy aloofly ponce around with a stick up his bum - some more excitedly than others - but what we haven't seen is the aforementioned gentleman stand up in his nappy-like breeches and burst into a full-blown Hindi anthem, accompanied by a thirty-strong Bollywood chorus and an accompaniment of Dhol players. Yes, you heard it right, Chadha has elected to follow up her surprise footie hit with a contemporary Bollywood version of Pride and Prejudice. The film is currently in early pre-production and should begin filming in March 2003 in India, Britain and the US. The part of Mr Darcy will apparently go to an American actor, who will be backed up by an all-star Bollywood cast. Just think of the possibilities.