Bride & Prejudice transplants the classic tale of marriages and manners to modern-day India, England and America, punctuating the giddy affairs of the heart with spectacular, colour-drenched dance sequences.

In a small town in the Indian countryside, Mr and Mrs Bakshi (Kher, Babbar) make plans to marry off their four daughters.

Their eldest, the lovely Jaya (Shirodkar), falls madly in love with exceedingly wealthy Balraj Bingley (Andrews), who is equally taken with her.

Sparks fly, even more so when Balraj's good friend, American hotelier Will Darcy (Henderson), sees Jaya's headstrong sister Lalita (Rai).

It's lust at first sight but Jaya is far from impressed by Darcy's blinkered, western outlook on life and his reluctance to immerse himself in the ebb and flow of her country's ancient culture.

Instead, she falls under the spell of charming rogue Johnny Wickham (Gillies), whose boundless energy are in stark contrast to Darcy's stuffy, sophisticated ways.

However, there is a darker side to the seemingly perfect Wickham and perhaps Lalita's apparent disdain for Darcy conceals an even deeper attraction?

Bride & Prejudice boasts all of Chadha's trademarks including earthy cross-generational humour, acid-tongued matriarchs and a feelgood finale.

The film's production design is simply glorious and choreographer Saroj Khan, who worked on Devdas, joins forces with composer Anu Malik, lyricists the Akhtar family and cinematographer Santish Sivan (Asoka) to infuse Bollywood tradition into this distinctly western treatment.

Rai produces a star-making turn full of emotion, making Henderson seem rather staid in comparison.

He also looks uncomfortable lip-synching their big love duet but there's a pleasing chemistry between the pair.

Gillies oozes sex appeal and there is ample comic relief from the wonderful Nitin Ganatra as bumbling suitor Mr Kholi (aka Austen's Mr Collins).

BRIDE & PREJUDICE stars Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, Anupam Kher and others.