Cast: Naseruddin Shah, Lilette Dubey, Shefali Shah, Vasundhara Das,
Rajat Kapur, Vijay Raaz.
Release Year: 2001.
Director: Mira Nair.
Of all Mira Nair films, I love Monsoon Wedding the most. Nair handles the done-to-death concept of
love in a different way and to do this, she sets a big fat Punjabi wedding as the
backdrop.
The story is set in Delhi, where preparations are in full
swing for Aditi Verma’s (Vasundhara Das) wedding to an NRI, Hemant (Parvin Dabbas).
Of course, her parents (Naseruddin Shah & Lilette Dubey) have chosen the
groom, even as Aditi is still busy making secret rendezvous with her ex-flame
(a weirdo TV anchor). To add to the chaos, comes in the extended family – the older,
unmarried cousin Ria (Shefali Shah), the pretty, young cousin Ayesha (Neha
Dubey), the uncle from America (Rajat Kapur), his wife, and a handful more. There
is also a goofed-up wedding planner, P.K.Dubey (Vijay Raaz) who speaks the
words ‘exactly and approximately’ together!
The film is driven by the complex nature of relationships. There
are many tracks interleaved within the storyline, talking of love, trust, betrayal.
The grittiest of them all is Ria’s (which I am tempted to divulge, but won’t.
See the movie for that!). Shefali Shah delivers a fine performance, but I’ve
seen better from her on television.
Monsoon Wedding celebrates
the Punjabi wedding to the fullest, complete with the colours (a generous dash
of red, yellow, orange and green), food, drinks, costumes, baraat, dance, music and gende
ke phool! A must watch!
Scenes to watch out for:
#1: A harried Shah ticking off at Vijay Raaz over waterproofing
the tent. Raaz says,
“Aaj barish nahi hogi...mor
nahi naach rahe”.
“Mor nahi naach rahe? Baarish
nahi hogi? Gaanja pii ke aaya hai kya?”
#2: The final song-dance sequence. The rains act like a liberating
means of washing off all the problems in the movie.
Why not to miss this movie:
For its exuberant, yet profound take on relationships.
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