Marigold (2007 film)
| Marigold | |
|---|---|
 Marigold film poster |
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| Directed by | Willard Carroll |
| Produced by | Charles Salmon |
| Written by | Willard Carroll |
| Starring | Salman Khan Ali Larter |
| Music by | Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy |
| Cinematography | Anil Mehta |
| Editing by | Anuradha Singh |
| Release date(s) | August 12, 2007 (U.S.) |
| Running time | 110 mins |
| Country | USA/India/UK |
| Language | English |
Marigold (also known as Marigold: An Adventure in India) is a 2007 romantic musical comedy about an American actress who becomes engrossed in the Bollywood film industry after visiting India. Director Willard Carroll intended the film to bridge "the gap between Indian and American cinema."
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[edit] Synopsis
The film follows the story of Marigold Lexton (Ali Larter), an American actress who gets stranded in Goa and lands a minor role in a Bollywood musical. She meets Prem Rajput (Salman Khan), the film's choreographer, and undergoes a personal transformation as she experiences Bollywood firsthand.
She arrives in India after a stressful plane flight, feeling under-appreciated. Others have the tendency to feel offended by her behavior, and she is struggling in her relationship with her boyfriend Barry, whom she eventually decides to leave behind after she meets Prem. The film she came to be in turns out to be cancelled, but after making the acquaintance of one of the women who was to have worked on the film she winds up on the set of a musical, where she meets Prem. After first going on a date with a spoiled young actor and refusing his indecent offer, she winds up talking with Prem. The director writes her into the film, and she lies about her ability to dance. Prem teaches her to dance at a nightclub. Over the next few days, as he shows her the nearby towns and countryside, their friendship deepens into love. After Prem talks to her about how important family is, she asks about his, and learns that he actually has a strained relationship with his father. He had not seen his family in three years, but the day before he had received a phone call from his younger sister, asking him to come home for her wedding. He asks Marigold to go home with him to Jodhpur, Rajasthan, for the wedding, since shooting on the movie had been shut down for a week. While at his parents house, she learns that he has been betrothed to another since childhood. He has fallen totally in love with Marigold, but has neglected to mention the long arranged marriage. Learning of the engagement, she feels like she has been a fool. In anger she gives Prem a tongue lashing, throws a glass of water in his face and stomps off without giving Prem a chance to speak. Prem, a teetotaler, heads to a bar to to drown his sorrows, where he runs into Barry who's already slurring his words. Barry expresses his frustration with his missing estranged girlfriend. He tells Prem that his girlfriend's name is Marigold. Prem invites him to stay the night as his parents' house; Barry accepts and then passes out. In the morning, with Prem's marriage ceremony happening later, Marigold and Barry decide to return to the United States. Prem, the only son of Jaipur's Ruler, feels duty bound to marry the woman his father had chosen when he was a child. As he follows his Bride, whose face is totally hidden behind a long veil, seven times around the Holy fire, Prem believes he is marrying the woman he has been engaged to since childhood. With the marriage complete, Prem lifts his wife's veil, he and most of the guests are astonished to find Marigold standing before him. Earlier and in secrete Prem's father has had sent his trusted assistant to intercept Marigold before she could board her plane for the states.
[edit] Cast
- Salman Khan ... Prem
- Ali Larter ... Marigold Lexton
- Nandana Sen ... Jaanvi
- Ian Bohen ... Barry
- Shari Watson ... Doreen
- Helen Richardson
- Vikas Bhalla
- Suchitra Pillai ... Rani
- Vijayendra Ghatge
- Roopak Saluja ... Mani
- Kiran Juneja
- Gulshan Grover . . . Vikaram
- Rakesh Bedi ... Manoj
- Marc Allen Lewis ... Marc
- Lea Moreno Young ... Valjean
- Catherine Fulop ... Sister Fernandéz
[edit] Production
While in India, Carroll had seen a Bollywood film (with Bhulbhal Khan), and, after seeing 150 such films, he hired Larter (whom he had worked with before) and Khan to be in a "crossover" film (although Carroll says he dislikes the term and prefers the idea of an "international audience").[1] Larter said that the her role in the film, to some degree, mirrored her life at the time.[1] Larter lacked professional dance training and worked with a choreographer to prepare for the filming. One of the songs features her own singing.[1]
Composer Graeme Revell augmented the songs with a Western (and in one case an Indian) sound and ended up striking an overall balance between the two.[1] Carroll decided that some of the songs should be in Hindi.[1]
CGI effects were used to create most of the white Taj Mahal (there were some set pieces built) and all of the mirroring black structure.[1]
[edit] Reception
Marigold was a Bollywood Box Office flop with some attributing its failure to the plot, which was similar to numerous Bollywood films that had been produced since 1970. Some felt that the movie was adequately promoted in the United States. [2] Despite the film's poor performance, some western critics gave the film positive reviews.[3][4][5]
[edit] Soundtrack
| Marigold | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Shankar Ehsaan Loy | ||||
| Released | 17 July 2007 | |||
| Recorded | 2006 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Language | Hindi English |
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| Label | Big Music | |||
| Producer | Charles Salmon Tom Wilhite |
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| Shankar Ehsaan Loy chronology | ||||
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The music of the film is composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy while the lyrics are penned by Javed Akhtar.
| Tracks | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Yeh Pyaar Kya Hai (Seven Stages Of Love)" | Shaan | |||||||
| 2. | "Yeh Pyaar Hai (That's Love)" | Chorus, Shaan | |||||||
| 3. | "Paagal Si Saari Leheren (Beach Blanket Bollywood)" | Alka Yagnik, Vikas Bhalla | |||||||
| 4. | "Sachha Pyaar (The Meaning Of Love)" | Nikita Nigam | |||||||
| 5. | "Tan Man (Marigold Erupts)" | Alka Yagnik, Nihira Joshi, Sneha Pant, Vikas Bhalla | |||||||
| 6. | "Listen To The Music (English)" | Ali Larter, Shaan, Truth Hurts | |||||||
| 7. | "The Meaning Of Love (English)" | Truth Hurts | |||||||
| 8. | "Seven Stages Of Love (English)" | Shaan, Truth Hurts | |||||||
[edit] Filming locations
- Goa, India
- Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
- Khimsar, Rajasthan, India
- Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- Rajasthan, India
- London, England, UK
- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Global Village, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f Brady Hammes (2008) (DVD). Marigold. Bonus: The Making of Marigold. Echo Bridge Home Entertainment.
- ^ "Marigold: An Adventure in India : Box office details". http://www.indiafm.com/movies/boxoffice/12587/index.html.
- ^ "Marigold Review". http://www.tvguide.com/movies/marigold/review/289541.
- ^ Debruge, Peter (August 16, 2007). "Marigold Review". Variety. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117934433.html?categoryid=31&cs=1.
- ^ Saltz, Rachel (August 17, 2007). "Marigold Movie Review". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/08/17/movies/17mari.html?ex=1218945600&en=439374cd57b00344&ei=5083. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
