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by Jennifer Alpeche Published: September 5, 2002
A monsoon is coming and so is a wedding... at least that's the plan. Winner of the Golden Lion Award of the 2001 Venice Film Festival, “Monsoon Wedding” is a romantic comedy brimming with love, laughter, happiness, and music. It is Mira Nair’s love song to India and her personal gift to her family. The film centers on the Verma family. Proud parents Lalit (Neseeruddin Shah) and Pimmi (Lilete Dubey) are working round the clock so that their daughter’s wedding -- only four days away -- is perfect. Bride-to-be Aditi (Vasundhara Das) and groom Hemant (Parvin Dubas) have not yet met and when the film opens, it is the day of the engagement and they are to meet for the first time. Family members from around the world have gathered to celebrate the match and to wish the couple the best. In the final four days leading up to the wedding, much happens, including Aditi and Hemant hitting a major bump in the road, but then discovering together what this marriage means to them; Lalit crushed by the rising cost of the wedding and later, over a terrible reveal: Pimmi trying to keep peace in the family; son Varun (Ishaan Nair) going through the many stages of adolescence; and cousin Ria (Shefali Shetty) dealing with a secret pain suddenly resurfaced by the arrival of a supposed trusted family friend. In addition to this, happening on the periphery of the Verma household is the love story between the wedding’s event manager, P.K. Dubey (Vijay Raaz) and the Verma’s house-helper, Alice (Tilotama Shome). Although their courtship experiences some rough patches as well, their love is a pure one and one certain to end happily. Their scenes are quiet and lovely and much of what they “say” is through a smile, a look or in the end, a heart made out of beautiful marigolds. All of this and more is “Monsoon Wedding” and despite any problems, pains or setbacks the Verma family must face, there is that feeling, that knowing, that they will find a way to get through it all: together. Family is celebrated in this film and when we see Lalit, Pimmi, Ria, Aditi, Hemant, Varun, P.K., and Alice -- friends and family celebrating in the liberating monsoon rain -- we know that everything will be all right. It is a new beginning. Coming from the tradition of documentary film, director Mira Nair wanted to transport us, setting “Monsoon Wedding” against the backdrop of a changing India. Through music and shots of New Delhi, she gives us a glimpse of another world. But as she says, by blending daily life and family life with real drama, the result is a story we can all relate to. Like her film, Nair’s commentary is a personal one. She compares watching “Monsoon Wedding” to sitting at her dining table for two hours. Since Nair is from a Punjabi family herself, what is seen in the film is very familiar to her and close to her heart. She tells us that the film was born out of "nothing," in that she made it with no outside pressures. No expectations. This was to be her film and her gift to her family. Fittingly, it ends with the dedication: for my family. She shares her thoughts on inspiration, memories, characters, the actors. The film -- although it began small -- turned out to be a five-layer project with 68 roles to fill. She relates the casting process: how she and her team met with 500 actors, non-actors, models, singers, relatives, friends, and neighbors. And how once cast, the actors workshopped together for three weeks and did yoga in the mornings for 1 ˝ hours. The objective was to pull these people together. Nair wanted them to feel like a true family and she wanted their performances to be as natural and as real as possible. Judging from the film, her efforts were successful. The performances are great. Nair's commentary covers all aspects of the film and the filmmaking process, but much of it deals with what the film means to her. From the actors to the characters to the colors, music and improvisation, everything is fondly remembered by Nair, including one of my favorite scenes. On the DVD, it begins with Chapter 9: Henna Painting. In this particular scene, the women of the film have gathered to sing songs, paint their hands with henna, and prepare the bride for married life. “Monsoon Wedding” is woven with music and song and the song they sing during this part is wonderful. It’s an old folk song that gets everyone involved and brings everyone together -- even us. Nair explains that many of the extras in the scene were friends and family, who were asked to show up wearing certain colors. The result is a gorgeous palette of reds, greens, yellows, and oranges that absolutely comes to life. Listening to Nair's thoughts is great, not only because she gives us detailed background on what we’re seeing, but also because she shares it with such enthusiasm. The affection she has for “Monsoon Wedding” is evident in the film, but her personal comments add to that knowing. Like she said, it’s as if we’re sitting at her dining table and at all times, she makes us feel like we're welcomed guests. The DVD also includes the film’s theatrical trailer and an eight-minute behind-the-scenes special from the Independent Film Channel. In this short, director and producer Mira Nair offers a quick overview of the film. Due to its length, not much can be covered in the special, but it does have some nice montages of key scenes and characters. If its intent was to get people interested in seeing the film, it's fine. We also hear from actors Neseeruddin Shah, Shefali Shetty, Parvin Dabas, Vijay Raaz, and Tilotama Shome, who describes the film as a “touch of magic realism.” Admittedly, there aren’t many extras on the disc, but “Monsoon Wedding” is a small film and what it does offer is good. This is a film that leaves you smiling. Is it possible to not dance with them at the end? Mira Nair said that she wanted to capture a certain spirit -- an intoxication of life. All I can say is... she did. Overall Rating: B for the film, B for the DVD. Available September 24, 2002. |
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