In this golden age of home viewing, the Criterion Collection still provides some of the best editions of the best movies ever released, usually with a rich selection of extras and often including audio commentaries (a feature they pioneered, and perhaps the greatest gift ever to film students and cinephiles alike). This column features one Criterion release per week, based entirely on where my interests lead me.
Hosting a traditional Hindu wedding is quite the undertaking, and proud father of the bride Lalit Verma (Naseeruddin Shah) is feeling it right now. The marigold gate is literally raining petals on him, there’s no sign of progress on the other structures that need to be built for the occasion, and wedding planner P.K. Dubey (Vijay Raaz) is nowhere to be found. When Lalit gets him on the phone, Dubey proves to be a much faster talker than he is a do-er, which is not encouraging considering the work yet to be done. Oh, and the clock is ticking because the husband-to-be, Hemant Rai (Parvin Dabas), is about to fly in from America, as are a sizable number of wedding guests from all over the world, because weddings are also family reunions. On top of all that, it’s nearly monsoon season and this grand outdoor occasion could be sabotaged by whims of the weather gods.
We later learn about some other things adding to the general drama of the occasion. The enormous cost of the wedding is more than Lalit can handle and he has to ask for help to pay for it all. The bride (Aditia Verman, played by Vasundhara Das) and groom (Hermant Ria, played by Parvin Dabas) to-be barely know each other (he’s the son of a family friend and works in the United States), and Aditi has been having an affair with her married boss Vikram Mehta (Sameer Arya).
Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding offers an insider’s view of an important cultural event by creating a group portrait of character types in a Robert Altman-like giant collage that results in a film that feels very busy but is never less than fascinating. Monsoon Wedding frequently cuts among short scenes taking place among a multitude of characters who make a strong impression despite their brief screen time, with the main plot engine of the wedding existing amidst a stew of narrative strands. There are also documentary-like contextual segments to let you know where you are (Delhi), producing the feeling that you won an insider’s pass to a family occasion that encapsulates much about human beings in a single event.
The people you will meet in this film are multi-lingual and multi-cultural, with many living outside their native land while retaining ties with their cultural home. So the influences at play among the characters include not only those of tradition and modernism in Hindu culture, but also those of Europe and America and a lot of other places as well. And my goodness does everyone have a lot of opinions that they are not shy to express, although nearly everyone is likeable, and the sheer number of subplots working themselves out means that there’s never a dull moment.
One of the reasons Monsoon Wedding works so well is the outstanding crew of actors who populate the various roles, including Lillete Dubey as Lalit’s wife Pimma, Shefali Shah as maiden cousin Ria Verma, Tillotama Shome as family servant Alice, who catches Dubey’s eye, and Rajat Kapoor as the way-too-generous relative who might also have an eye for chicken. There is also a large cast of minor characters too numerous to name, but all of whom are excellent in their roles. The technical staff is also first-rate, including cinematography by Declan Quinn, editing by Allyson C. Johnson, music by Mychael Danna, costume design by Arjun Bhasin, and production design by Stephanie Carroll. Monsoon Wedding won the Golden Lion and the Lanterna Magica Award at the 2001 Venice Film Festival (Nair was only the second director from India to win it, after Satyajit Ray) and Best Foreign Independent Film at the 2002 British Independent Film Awards. | Sarah Boslaugh
Spine #: 489
Technical details: 114 min.; color; screen ratio 1.85:1; Hindi, Punjabi, English.
Edition reviewed: DVD (2 discs)
Extras: commentary track by director Mira Nair; three short documentaries by Nair with introductions by her: “So Far from India” (1983), India Cabaret” (1985) and “The Laughing Club of India” (2001); four fiction shorts by Nair with introductions by her: “The Day the Mercedes Became a Hat” (1993), segment “India” from 11’09”01—September 11 (2002), “Migration” (2007), and “How Can It Be?” (2008); video interview with cinematographer Declan Quinn and production designer Stephanie Carroll; video interview with actor Naseeruddin Shah conducted by Mira Nair; theatrical trailer; illustrated booklet with essay by critic and travel writer Pico Iyer.
Fun Fact: The distinctive cover art has more of a connection to the film than might be obvious at first glance: it’s the work of Swedish illustrator Laura Ljungkvist and recalls a image from the opening titles, which she designed.
Parting Thought: Family can be both a blessing and a curse, but Monsoon Wedding comes down firmly on the blessing side of things. I felt this attitude from the opening scenes, which creates a vibe that defangs some of the threats that must be dealt with over the course of this film. Did you as a viewer also feel protected from having to see any of the big bads triumph, and if so did it remind you of the security one can find in a big extended family?
