Cheap Monsoon Wedding (DVD) (Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey) (Mira Nair) Price

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Customer Reviews of Monsoon Wedding

In all of the flurry and fuss that surrounds the wedding, few people notice that the bride seems somewhat distracted by a previous love affair, or that an orphaned cousin seems a little uncomfortable in the presence of her uncle, the accepted family patriarch. But all these troubles are resolved by the end of the film.

The sub-plot of the film involves the Indian version of the 'wedding planner'--a lower-caste Indian named Dube who catches the eye of a servant girl. Dube was an incredible character with all of his drive, ambition, and the latest gadgets. The film cleverly made a statement about the caste-system, but it was subtle and elegantly woven into the film.

This was a wonderful film--the colours, the music, the vegetation--everything was lush and rich. I loved seeing the Indian relatives converge on the household--there were Indians from America, Indians from Australia, etc. The subtitles are mixed with some English and a patois that is utterly charming.

Open your mind and discover this wonderful movie
I have now seen Monsoon wedding twice, and it's without a doubt a great movie. Depicting a modern indian culture, the film gives you an insight into the preparations during the days leading up to a family wedding. It often has a "fly-on-the-wall" feel/look to it, and the director successfully manages to juggle several characters within the film, with none leaving the screen for too long. Sometimes funny, often romantic, the occasional drama, and even some quite moving scenes later in the film when a terrible family secret is revealed, but ultimately Monsoon Wedding is best catergorized as a feel-good movie. The cast are excellent, though I haven't heard of any of them previously. Special mentions go to Naseeruddin Shah who plays Lalit (the bride's father) who gives a touching performance when faced with a relative's shameful history. Also good are Shefali Shetty (Ria), Vijay Raaz (dubey) and the gorgeous Tilotama Shome, who plays the shy house maid Alice. Ironically, the most heart-warming romance in the film isn't between the two people who are about to wed!, but between two others (who I won't name here, in the interests of people who haven't yet seen the movie). Monsoon Wedding is also something of a multilingual film, with no fewer than 3 languages being used - English, Hindi and Punjabi. This means the viewer (presuming they're not multilingual) will often be switching between listening to the conversations, to reading the subtitles, but you'll soon get used to it.

Overall then, a wonderful movie. Great direction from Mira Nair, who manages to make everything hold together perfectly. Good performances from the cast, and a worthy soundtrack that I'm now considering buying. Along with "Amelie", it's nice to see some excellent "feel-good" films recently that don't overdo it with the schmaltz factor.

Once is Not Enough...
I rented this movie and enjoyed it so much that I immediately rewound it and watched it again; now THAT'S a first! And it was even better the second time around, as I didn't have to concentrate so hard for fear of missing something.

Cross-cultural/generational and traditional vs. modern themes have always been a favorite of mine, but here these ideas are explored in layered levels, w/ all of their subtle complexities. There is nothing hackneyed in this presentation. There are various subplots weaving throughout, carrying the viewer through many twists and turns at a perfect pace. Observing the wedding planner Dubey (Vijay Raaz) as he falls in love is especially sweet and charming and funny. Yet this film is by no means a frivolous fluff piece. It has its dramatic and unexpected moments, which serve to enrich one's understanding and empathy for the characters involved.

Oh, and did I mention that the music is delightful? Can't wait to get my copy of the soundtrack (it's on order) to play in the car. I'm also eager to view some of Mira Nair's other films, since she certainly did a superb job with "Monsoon Wedding".