Long before Daniel Gillies and Martin Henderson became popular with the names ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, they shared the screen with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in ‘Bride and Prejudice’. The Bollywood icon danced Garba alongside the future TV stars in the 2004 musical, creating a cross-cultural cinematic moment still remembered by fans.
A memorable on-screen collaboration
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, one of Bollywood’s most celebrated stars, once performed Garba with Hollywood actors Daniel Gillies and Martin Henderson. The trio appeared together in Gurinder Chadha’s 2004 film ‘Bride and Prejudice’, a Bollywood-style adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’. At the time, Gillies and Henderson were relatively unknown faces. Years later, they rose to international fame, Gillies through his role as Elijah Mikaelson in ‘The Vampire Diaries’ universe and Henderson as Dr. Nathan Riggs in ‘Grey’s Anatomy’.
A playful rivalry in garba form
The movie, ‘Bride and Prejudice’, had a song, ‘Dola Dola’, where Aishwarya, Daniel Gillies, and Martin Henderson were seen grooving to the classical beats and playing Garba. The sequence beautifully captured a playful rivalry central to the film’s plot, where both Gillies’ character, George Wickham, and Henderson’s character, William Darcy, are seen courting Aishwarya’s Lalita Bakshi. Set to traditional beats, both actors put their best foot forward, using their dance moves in an attempt to impress her.
Bollywood meets Hollywood
‘Bride and Prejudice’ remains a unique cross-cultural project that bridged Indian and Western cinema. For Aishwarya, it showcased her global appeal, and for Gillies and Henderson, the film became an early step in careers that would later skyrocket in American television.Today, fans often look back on the Garba sequence with a sense of nostalgia, marveling at the fact that the future stars of two massive TV shows once shared the dance floor with a Bollywood legend.
