Monsoon Wedding

Rating: Good

U.S. Distributor: USA Films
U.S. Release Date: February 22nd, 2002 (limited)
Running Length: 1 hour, 54 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
In English and in Indian with English subtitles
Director: Mira Nair
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shetty, Vijay Raaz, Tilotama Shone, Vasundhara Das, Parvin Dabas, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Neha Dubey, Roshan Seth, and Soni Razdan.

picture above from www.monsoonweddingmovie.com

Plot: An arranged marriage is about to take place, and the audience is introduced to an array of characters who are either related to the married couple, or know the married couple. Adita (Vasundhara Das), who lives in New Delhi is about to get married to Hemant (Parvin Dabas), who lives in the United States. Adita plans to move to the United States to live with Hemant. However, Adita is still engaging in a relationship with a married man.

                  Critique: Monsoon Wedding is a spirited, charming and highly enjoyable motion picture. Director Mira Nair carefully balances her palet of characters and subplots, organizing them in a free flowing and entertaining film. It's always nice to see a loose narrative without the usual storytelling restrictions often seen in Hollywood films. Indeed it succeeds very well as an enjoyable ensemble film, and the spiced up presentation makes the film even more entertaining. At its heart its actually very traditional and sweet, it certainly isn't a very radical film. It's one flaw perhaps is that it does not have much depth. Nonetheless, it has a lot of entertainment to offer.
               Monsoon Wedding is a very relaxed film. It rarely makes an unusual move, although there are some pleasant and unpleasant surprises in the story. Still it is very well paced and casual. Monsoon Wedding is warm slice of life that should be accessible to any audience. The film is well made, well directed by Nair and well acted by the whole cast.
               Monsoon Wedding is a sweet, entertaining film that should please most viewers. I highly recommend it for an enjoyable time.

                                      review by supernothingman