Monsoon Wedding

Plot

The film's central story deals with the organization of an enormous, chaotic, and expensive wedding that is due to take place in a modern Indian family. Lalit Verma and his wife Pimmi have arranged a marriage for their daughter Aditi to Hemant Rai. Hemant is the son of a family friend who lives in Texas, and Aditi has only known him for a few weeks. As so often happens in Indian culture, such a wedding means that, for one of the few times in each generation, the extended family comes together from all corners of the globe, bringing its emotional baggage along.

Lalit and Pimmi are helped with the main planning by Pimmi's sister Shashi and her husband C.L, who have arrived earlier from Oman. A few days before the engagement, Tej, Lalit's extremely wealthy brother-in-law, arrives from the U.S.. Tej is married to Lalit's sister and has helped the Verma family regain their financial footing after the Partition of India left them penniless many years ago. Tej offers to pay for Aditi's cousin, Ria Verma to attend university in the U.S., after the family consults him for advice. Ria and her mother live with the Verma family, who took them in after the death of Ria's father (Lalit's brother). Despite his generous offer, Ria stays away from Tej and is not comfortable in his presence.

Lalit begins experiencing difficulty in paying for the final, smaller aspects of the wedding and is embarrassed when he has to borrow money from friends and colleagues. Meanwhile, P.K. Dubey, the eccentric wedding planner, falls in love with Alice, the Vermas' maid. Ria grows concerned after she witnesses what appears to be Tej grooming a younger relative, ten-year-old Aliya. Aditi's younger brother Varun plans an elaborate dance for the pre-wedding party with another cousin, Ayesha, but Lalit worries that his son is becoming too effeminate and plans to send him to boarding school. Meanwhile, Ayesha is mutually attracted to Pimmi's nephew studying in Australia, Rahul, a fact they attempt to hide from the family. Dubey's workers see Alice trying on Aditi's wedding jewellery, and the men accuse her of stealing. The incident causes her to become withdrawn from Dubey and he grows depressed.

A few days before the wedding, Aditi sleeps with an old lover, her married boss Vikram; and confesses this to Hemant. The incident only serves as a reminder to Aditi as to why she stopped seeing Vikram. Though he is initially angry, Hemant is glad for her honesty and is confident that they can put it behind them and be happy together. The workers apologise to Alice and she reconciles with Dubey. The night before the ceremony, Varun refuses to dance due to the comments made by his father, and Ayesha performs with the help of Rahul. Aditi and Hemant grow closer and they share a few intimate moments, which re-affirms their faith in the marriage. After a night of jokes, drama and dances, Ria catches Tej trying to take Aliya for a drive alone. Ria stops them from driving off and takes Aliya away from him, revealing to Lalit and others that Tej had molested her as a child. Lalit's sister does not believe her, attributing her accusations to her character and unmarried status. Emotionally distraught, Ria leaves.

The next day, Lalit pleads with Ria to return to the wedding, admitting that he can't possibly imagine what she has gone through but also saying that he can't disown Tej, since they are family. Ria is not happy but agrees to return for the sake of Aditi. Hours before the wedding, however, Lalit changes his mind and tells his sister and Tej to leave the wedding and the family home. Tej's wife insists that Ria's accusation was a small matter but Lalit stands his ground.

The Monsoon rains begin as Aditi and Hemant are married in an elaborate wedding, while Dubey and Alice simultaneously wed in a simple ceremony, and later celebrate with the Vermas. Ria moves on from her past life, and is finally able to freely enjoy the festivities.

Cast

• Naseeruddin Shah as Lalit Verma
• Lillete Dubey as Pimmi Verma
• Shefali Shah as Ria Verma
• Vasundhara Das as Aditi Verma
• Vijay Raaz as Parabatlal Kanhaiyalal 'P.K.' Dubey
• Tillotama Shome as Alice
• Parvin Dabas as Hemant Rai
• Kulbhushan Kharbanda as C.L. Chadha
• Kamini Khanna as Shashi Chadha
• Rajat Kapoor as Tej Puri
• Randeep Hooda as Rahul Chadha
• Neha Dubey as Ayesha Verma
• Ishaan Nair as Varun Verma
• Roshan Seth as Mohan Rai
• Soni Razdan as Saroj Rai
• Jas Arora as Umang Chadha
• Natasha Rastogi as Sona Verma
• Ram Kapoor as Shelly
• Dibyendu Bhattacharya as Lottery
• Rajiv Gupta as Delhi Cop in Rain Scene

Reception

Monsoon Wedding received widespread critical acclaim upon release.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 128 critics' reviews were positive, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's consensus reads: "An insightful, energetic blend of Hollywood and Bollywood styles, Monsoon Wedding is a colorful, exuberant celebration of modern-day India, family, love, and life." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Roger Ebert rated the film 3.5 stars out of 4, calling it "one of those joyous films that leaps over national boundaries and celebrates universal human nature." Sandi Chaitram of the BBC gave a positive review, praising Mira Nair's ability to create tense drama without stifling the film's overall feel-good nature. She also noted that the "somewhat cheesy" finale's confirmation of family love doesn't impede the film's charm. Brian Eggert of Deep Focus Review gave the film a perfect score of 4 out of 4, highlighting the film's rich storytelling and Nair's ability to create complex characters. He states, "Nair has crafted a variegated ensemble of characters. We care about them, as they live full and complicated lives."

Chuck Bowen of Slant Magazine praised Nair's direction, describing her as having "clear gifts as a director," with her most appealing traits being her "generosity and sense of texture." Derek Malcolm of The Guardian appreciated the film's exploration of tradition and modernity, saying, "There is a mixture of ancient and modern that holds the Verma family in its thrall. Nair looks at these contrasts with a skilled eye that's ironic but never mocking." Soham Gadre of The Spool described the film as "a warm-hearted ode to family and Indian culture," highlighting its balance between Bollywood traditions and modern sensibilities.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of Monsoon Wedding includes a qawwali by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, a ghazal by Farida Khanum, a Punjabi song by Sukhwinder Singh, an old Indian song by Rafi, a folk dance song. The film includes an Urdu ghazal, Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo (Don't Be So Stubborn About Leaving Today) sung by Pakistani artist Farida Khanum.

The song Aaj Mera Ji Karda is recreated by Indian musicians Tanishk Bagchi and Arjunna Harjaie for the film Lucknow Central (2017) starring Farhan Akhtar.

• (*) Originally featured in the Hindi film Loafer (1973)
• (**) Originally featured in the Hindi film Biwi No.1 (1999)

Accolades

Monsoon Wedding won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, making Mira Nair the second Indian (after Satyajit Ray for Aparajito) to receive this honour.

Home media

This film was released on DVD in 2002. In 2009, it was released on Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection.

References

References

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