Monsoon Wedding

Monsoon Wedding

Monsoon Wedding

I was skeptical at first about seeing this movie. I'm not into Bollywood movies at all. I saw this film with a high school senior class in Newark, New Jersey and they were captivated by the film as well as myself. Mira Nair is becoming one of the world's best known film directors as I write this review with Namesake on it's way to release. The characters were fully fleshed out rather than just caricatures. Who didn't love the wedding planner who curses like a sailor and the servant who succumbed to his charm and spell? Who didn't love the actual couple based on arrangement between families? The bride has a secret that could have destroyed or stopped the marriage. My sister's friend is probably going to be married in New Delhi herself. I wonder how similar and different the wedding and reception will be. From what I know about Indian weddings, I can invite you which means you, your family, friends, and neighbors. They appear to have a really good time at weddings in India. There was a serious topic that could have dampened or ruined the movie but it was well-orchestrated by the director.

Although entertaining in some sense; Wedding offers nothing new and confirms that Ms. Nair still lacks in her films the following: narrative flow, subtlety and basic crafts of filmmaking which differentiates a good movie from an average or a bad one. Walking out of the theater one feels good about the vibrant colors of India, it's free spirit that is omnipresent, the music (albeit not original) but cannot deny the fact that a lot of people with a handheld camera, lacking illusions about cinema verite and a sudden urge to make a film in 30 days or less can churn out better stuff than Monsoon Wedding. This fails to represent the subject matter helped by the absence of a plot (albeit good potential narrative) and presence of too many sub-plots and at the end of it all we have a cinematic mess in our hands wondering what was Ms Nair thinking? May be the sad truth is filmmaking in a lot of people's mind does not equate to good storytelling and a thoughtful representation of the subject matter in hand. Did the jurors at Venice Film Festival actually see the movie or they were happy to note that Wedding is not your everyday Bollywood production? Sadly, it is not too far from it either

I just finished watching this beautiful film for the third time. The first time I saw it, I really liked it. The second time I got more out of it and I liked it even more. I just finished watching it with the director's commentary and I can honestly say I had no idea how good this film actually was! It was shot entirely on location, in just 30 days on a very low budget with a cast of 68 and only a handful of them were real actors! (A great deal of actors who were originally cast in this movie pulled out at the last minute or didn't even bother to show up) I guess that is the beauty of this movie though. Nair wanted to capture the essence of the Punjabi people in a true setting. She didn't want to go for the big elaborate sets where people spontaneously break out into a big song and dance number like you see in a lot of Bollywood movies. Nair wanted her characters to start singing because that is what they do. One of her comments compared Indians to the Irish as two cultures who love to use song. Throughout the whole movie, you get such a feeling of reality as if you are a voyeur who is really looking into these people's lives. They are lying naked and vulnerable before us. The character of Alice really stood out for me. Tilotama Shome's talent radiated from her and I found myself wondering what other films she had done. In Nair's commentary, the answer was revealed: ZERO. Shome was an English Literature student in Delhi University. The scene wear Alice is pretending to be a bride (like a child playing dress up) is so simple yet so powerful and beautiful. I have a few reviews stating that Tilotama was miscast as the maid. That she was to "elegant" and self aware to play such a character, however, that is exactly what Nair wanted in the character of Alice. Nair wanted to make a statement about people. Our beauty and presence comes from within our soul, not from our lot in life. Tilotama Shome can have a brilliant career ahead of her if she wants it. It is also worthwile to mention two more exceptionally powerful performances by Vijay Raaz (who was a struggling actor before this movie) as Dubey (Alice's love interest) and Shefali Shetty, as Ria (who has a dark secret that can ruin the binds of family) These three performances were outstanding, but the entire cast was incredible. This movie is definitely worth seeing, but I really have to recommend you watch it like I did - more than once. It really is worth it.

Bar none. This one is a reaffirmation of life and love and the commitments that bind the two forever. Forget that you don't really know anything about Indian culture or language. It speaks the language of the human heart -- and that is always universal. I can't wait to watch this one again, and strongly encourage everyone to see it.

I can enjoy a film with subtitles. I can enjoy a film even when I have to strain to understand the English spoken with foreign accents. However a film that goes from subtitles to hard to understand English in the same sentence is almost impossible for me to follow. All of a sudden the subtitles disappear and by the time I have adjusted to the heavily accented English I've missed 2 or 3 sentences. Maybe others do not have this problem. I understand that this switching between languages actually occurs in India. But for me it just killed the film.

''Monsoon Wedding''is a cute film about an Indian family and their problems based in their culture and beliefs: it's the daughter Lalit who is going to merry, is the son and Lalit's brother who doesn't look very male, is the cousin Ria who is getting old to get married and stuff like that. Of course that we always have a reason or a problem about the causes: Ria is not married because she does not trust in men, since she was molested as a kid, Lalit is going to merry, but she does not know if she really want that, since she likes another man who has nothing to do with the guy her parents wish for her. I cannot say that ''Monsoon wedding'' is so great as ''Lagaan'' or ''Mission Kasmir'', but it is also a great way of knowing or watching more about the Indian culture for sure!

Take a kaleidoscope of the brightest pure colours, add the most amazing "over the top" characters, sprinkle liberally with tears and laughter and you have the recipe for this film which is a delightful feast for all the senses. There is so much happening all the time that you become fearful that something might be missed, trying to see into every corner of every scene which is almost impossible! Well worth the price of a ticket and might even warrant a second viewing, this film deserves a much wider distribution than it will receive. Definitely 10/10.