When Ash got late for her Hollywood debut

But it was not that Ash got late deliberately but she got caught up in the traffic in Manhattan and missed the welcoming speeches at the premiere of the Gurinder Chadha venture.

Ash couldn't make it to the opening ceremony even though the speeches started at least 40 minutes beyond the 7.30 p.m. schedule.

However, the former Miss World stayed back after the film for at least 20 minutes, talking to her fans and posing for pictures.

'Bride and Prejudice' opened in about 15 cities on Friday, but the premiere was held on Wednesday.

In the morning, Ash's costars Martin Henderson and Naveen Andrews joined the co-writer, co-producer and director Chadha for round table discussions with the print and electronic media in Manhattan. Ash had opted out of the interviews because of her schedule.

Apologising for Ash not showing up on time for the premiere and the delay in starting the film, Chadha reminded over 500 invitees, most of them non South-Asians, that it is not uncommon in India to start the functions late.

Bollywood movies, she said with a good chuckle, run for about three hours but since her film was less than two hours, she thought the delay wasn't a big deal.

Chadha said her biggest challenge in the film was to fuse Bollywood and Hollywood movie traditions. She also wanted to make sure, she said, that she wasn't poking fun at Bollywood.

'Bride and Prejudice' had its own heart and mind. "It is not an Indocentric or an Eurocentric film. It is a Diasporocentric film," she added.

Weinstein, whose company co-produced 18 Oscar nominated films including 'The Aviator' and Finding Neverland, declared that he was "absolutely thrilled" with Chadha's film.

Weinstein, who had zealously promoted the Oscar winning musical 'Chicago' and saw it gross about $220 million worldwide, called the new musical a refreshing entertainment. He said he and the executives at Miramax fell in love with the 'Bride and Prejudice' script as they read it.

But he had one complaint against Chadha. He said she had given him only a couple of seconds in the outtakes appearing with the credits. Weinstein is seen in a scene with a group of onlookers during a shoot in Amritsar. He said he wished Chadha had given him at least two minutes of screen time. And then he declared with a mock sigh that "may be she was right…I deserved just those few seconds."

Andrews, who had come to the premiere holding the hands of his partner, actress Barbara Hershey, joked about the fun he had dancing and singing for the film.

Chadha thought she had wondered if Henderson could go through the dance and romance part of the film. "There was some serious shit in there," she said joking.

Henderson apologised in advance for his dancing in the film. Fortunately, he had to do just one dance, he said. He was relieved, he added, to learn that he was not supposed to know desi dancing in the film

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