The bride has slept with another man. The father of the bride has spent more money on the wedding than he can afford. The older sister is jealous because her younger sister is getting married before her.
It sounds like a typical American wedding, but this is a traditional, cultural Indian wedding brought to life by director Mira Nair. Monsoon Wedding is a colorful picture that will enthrall viewers.
Nair also directed Mississippi Masala with Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudlhury. However, this movie differs as dramatic in a fun-loving, soap opera-like way.
This light-hearted, smile from ear to ear film is about a bride, Aditi (Vasundhara Das) who is arranged in a marriage with a family who’s son lives in Houston, Texas. Aditi is not the innocent dove that you would imagine though. She is actually quite cultural, even going out with the host of a Delhi talk show called Delhi dot-com.
Everyone is participating in this rich culture while cell phones go off and the wedding planner uses his wrist watch calculator to give the father a total for the expenses of the wedding.
Aditi’s groom, Hemant (Parvin Dabas) does not use sugar in his tea and worries about the large amount of food he eats combined with a small amount of exercise. America is not an enemy in the movie, but it does hinder traditions Indian people believe in.
Nair loves to film Indian women, which is evident when you watch her movies. The women in Monsoon Wedding are exquisite with their beautiful silk fabrics and jewelry. But, the characters are quite appealing too, especially Aditi.
The movie changes to something more than a soap opera when she is honest to her future husband about honoring her Indian culture and the art of arranged marriages.
Monsoon Wedding has been criticized for its lack of covering important issues, but I feel this makes the movie even more interesting. To see another culture engage in a related activity helps American audiences understand Indian culture while being entertained in English, Punjabi, Hindi and English subtitles.
This is a film that all audiences will enjoy.
