Despite being panned by British film critics, Gurinder Chaddha's "Bride and Prejudice" has topped the British and Ireland box office charts in the first week of its run at theatres.

The Bollywood-inspired adaptation of the Jane Austen classic "Pride and Prejudice" took 1.67 million pounds on its first weekend, knocking romantic comedy "Wimbledon" from the top spot into third place.

According to Screen International, the top five films over the last week were "Bride and Prejudice", "Saw", "Wimbledon", "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" and "Layer Cake".

The second highest new entry was "Resident Evil: Apocalypse", which went in at number four.

Ticket holders in cinema halls across Britain for "Bride and Prejudice" included British Asian and mainstream English cinemagoers, who had earlier applauded Chaddha's "Bend it Like Beckham".

Matthew Vaughn's gangster film "Layer Cake" slipped two places to number five.

"Man on Fire" was the only other new entry in the top 10, at number six. The revenge thriller stars Denzel Washington and Christopher Walken.

Ben Stiller's comedy "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" retained its position as the highest grossing film in the chart.