Monsoon Wedding Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)September 13th, 2002
MONSOON WEDDING (2001) / ***
[English, Hindi and Punjab; English subtitles]
Directed by Mira Nair. Screenplay by Sabrina Dhawan. Starring Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Vasundhara Das. Running time: 114 minutes. Rated AA for offensive language by the MFCB. Reviewed on September 13th, 2002.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: Lalit Verma (Shah) and his wife Pimmi (Dubey) are preparing for the arranged marriage of their daughter Aditi (Das) to an Indian-American from Houston named Hemant Rai (Parvin Dabas). In the days leading up to the wedding, during India's torrential monsoon season, the extended Verma and Rai families descend on their home. In the process, new passions are enflamed, Aditi risks the discovery of her affair with a TV personality (Sameer Arya), and dark family secrets struggle into the light.
Review: It's ironic that I watched "Monsoon Wedding" just three days after "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", because both are spiritually similar, high-quality movies, and yet they take entirely different approaches to their material. Whereas "Greek" emphasised the humour arising from the interaction of its characters, "Monsoon" is more concerned with its story. It seeks to evoke not just sympathy and laughs, but a wide range of emotions, some of them sombre. Like a Robert Altman movie, "Monsoon" is filled with characters -- there are more than a dozen which are important to the proceedings -- and their stories crisscross throughout the picture. Some are touched on only briefly, like Lalit's concern over the rather effeminate behaviour of his son, Varun (Ishaan Nair). Others are more deeply explored; of these, the most moving is the hesitant love affair between the flashy wedding planner, PK Dubey (Vijay Raaz), and the Vermas' maid, Alice (Tilotama Shome). Only the ostensibly central story of Aditi and Hemant rings a little false, with a key development in their relationship coming across as somewhat anticlimactic. Moving through most of the plot strands is Shah, who rises to the challenge of both the comedy and the more dramatic scenes demanded of him towards the end. Alive with the colour and vibrancy of India, "Monsoon Wedding" is a delight.
Copyright © 2002 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
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