Monsoon Wedding Review
by Jerry Saravia (faust668 AT aol DOT com)May 20th, 2002
MONSOON WEDDING (2001)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
May 17th, 2002
RATING: Four stars
Mira Nair's "Monsoon Wedding" is possibly the most infectious, joyous celebration of life and love in a family I've seen in quite some time. We live in cynical times where pessimism often leads to an optimistic denouement. Here we have a film that celebrates all the quirks and eccentricities present in every family, never forgetting what makes them human and that they all share the same foibles as everyone else.
The film begins with an arranged marriage and the preparations necessary for a wedding ceremony. They involve the usual talk about the color of the decorations, the dresses, the money needed to cover costs, and so on. The fact that this is Delhi, not some suburban American town, shows how universal the film's characters are. The Vermas, an upper-class Punjabi family, is negotiating the arrangements to be made for this wedding. Marigolds are the decor used for the marital gate, organized by the wedding planner, P.K. Dube (Vijay Raaz), who is like the Hindi version of Steve Buscemi, always goofy and laughing too loudly - one happy soul. P.K is enamored with the family's maid, Alice (Tilotama Shome), a shy girl who loves to dress in the Vermas' luxurious colorful outfits, imagining herself as a princess.
The Vermas family consists of Lalit (Naseeruddin Shah), the nervous, bickering patriarch of the family, his wife, Pimmi (Lilette Dubey), and his daughter, Aditi (Vasundhara Das), who is to be wed to a Houston computer programmer, Hemant (Parvin Dabas). There is alsoVarun (Ishaan Nair), the teenage son who wants to dance and be creative and not be subjected to the family's traditional education; the unmarried Ria (Shefali Shetti), Aditi's cousin, who has a dark secret regarding a longtime friend of the family; and Ayesha (Neha Dubey), who practices her dance moves with Varum. Ayesha has one musical sequence that is as vibrant and energetic as any dance sequence from any Hollywood musical. Welcome to Bollywood - their energy is as pure as anything I've seen (Of course, I am speaking as a viewer who has not seen many Indian films.)
There are lots of complications in preparation for this wedding. Lalit does not want white used for the outside tent because white is typically used for funerals, thus he insists that the goofy P.K. use a variety of colors. Alice is accused of stealing from the Vermas, though P.K. knows it is not true. Aditi is having a secret affair with a married talk-show host, and wonders if she should tell her groom-to-be, which could prove damaging for the all the families who are invited to this wedding. The tension builds as Ria senses that the friend of the family, Tej (Rajat Kapoor), may use his past indiscretions with her on a young child. P.K. wonders if he can have Alice as the love of his life, and well, there is nothing here that you have not seen before. The difference, as always, is in the execution and director Nair has crafted a boisterous story of loving human beings who try to stick together as a family despite the changes in the times. Nothing that unfolds in the film, with regard to relationships, is ever surprising yet it is so humanly and compassionately written that you can't help but feel closely connected to the Vermas.
Shot in grainy 16mm film, "Monsoon Wedding" is a thunderous joy, a film to make you leap out of your chair after it is over with renewed appreciation, not only for cinema, but for life itself and that is one major accomplishment in such pessimistic times. Among the other virtues are terrific music, crude yet beautifully shot sequences with voluptuous colors, benign characters and simple human emotions (not to mention a heart-rending sequence with Lalit and Ria), "Monsoon Wedding" is one of the marvels of 2002. Don't be surprised if you feel the need to roam the streets and dance while listening to Indian music after seeing it.
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