If the title is any indication, then Gurinder Chaddha’s Bride & Prejudice is going to be a smash hit. Even though Bend it like Beckam is still packing them in, Ms. Chaddha has already started shooting her next movie. The shooting started on July 14th at Ealing Studios, UK and soon the crews will be jetting to India where the movie will be shot in Mumbai, Amritsar and Goa. Based on Jane Austen’s novel, the story revolves around a family of 4 daughters and how the poor parents find it difficult to marry each of the daughters without dowry.

The film stars Aishwarya Rai as Lalita and Martin Henderson (The Ring) as Darcy. The cast of UK, Indian and US talent also includes Daniel Gillies, Naveen Andrews, Namrata Shirodkar, Indira Varma, Nadira Babbar, Anupam Kher, Meghna Kothari, Peeya Rai Choudhuri and Nitin Ganatra. The film will feature song and dance sequences in the Bollywood style, with lyrics by the Akhtar family and music by Anu Malik.

According to B4U TV, starring opposite Ash is Phoenix who starred in the Gladiator as the villain Caesar and more recently in Signs as Mel Gibson’s brother. Anupam Kher one of the stars of the film is quite impressed!

“Gurinder has a good track record and her screenplay is very good. Bride and Prejudice has a very successful script. She sees her films from the audience’s point of view. She knows her job and so it is good to work with her.” (Hindustan Times)

Lucky for Kher we guess. Big B declined the chance to play Aishwarya and Namrata’s father in Bride And Prejudice.