The latest to wax eloquence about Austen's relevance is Kenya-born British director of Indian origin Gurinder Chadha whose fourth feature film Bride and Prejudice starring Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai in a lead role is slated for world première on October 8. The film is based on Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice.

'When I was making the film, I realised how relevant Austen is even today,' said the 37-year-old director who first shot into international limelight in 2002 with her second feature film Bend It Like Beckham which was one of the biggest hits in Britain.

Chadha has moved the 18th century story set in Hertfordshire, England, to Amritsar, the famous Golden Temple Town of northern Indian state, Punjab. The Bennets of the novel have become Bakshis in the film.

Aishwariya Rai plays the role of Lalita Bakshi, the Indian version of Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice and British actor Martin Henderson essays the role of Darcy which was performed by Colin Frith in the 1996 BBC version of the Austen novel.

There is a Hindi version of Bride and Prejudice in which the music has been composed by Anu Malik, the lyrics penned by Javed Akhtar and the dialogues written by noted Hindi writer Anoop Singh. The music of the English version has been re-worked in England, said Chadha.

Will the English version appeal to people other than Indians? The director believes it will. 'I have not made the film for just Indian viewers. It is an international film,' said Chadha.

Aishwariya, who was also present at the promo of Bride and Prejudice, appeared a little put off when reporters asked her about the speculation of her shift to the Hollywood.

Aishwariya however made it clear she is an artiste who is lucky to get a chance to work in different parts of the world.

Chadha is all praise for the performance and professionalism Aishwariya as an actress in Bride and Prejudice. It is the actress' first international film in the backdrop of intense speculation that she could be shifting to Hollywood.