MONSOON WEDDING (Criterion, 2001) D: Mira Nair, w/ Naseeruddin Shah, Vasundhara Das. Rating: NNNNN DVD package: NNNN Rating: NNNNN
There’s nothing like a big family wedding for organized chaos. The guests pour in. The bride has second thoughts. The event planner’s a boob. Romances blossom. Mom and Dad go quietly mad. There’s much eating and drinking and, given that this is a middle-class Punjabi family in Delhi, also much singing and dancing.
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Director Mira Nair orchestrates this into a colourful swirl with a long-take, hand-held camera style plus a well-rehearsed cast and energetic crowd scenes. She also deftly juggles five plot threads, including the bride’s passion for her married lover, a cousin’s dire secret and a comic romance between the event planner and the maid.
Nair explains the social context and the jokes on her commentary. It’s not really necessary, but it makes the movie richer the second time around.
EXTRAS Disc one: commentary, Nair and Naseeruddin Shah plus cameraman and production designer conversations, short film. Widescreen. English and Hindi audio. English subtitles. Disc two: Nair’s short films. Widescreen. English, Urdu, Hindi audio. English subtitles. Essay booklet.
