Monsoon Wedding

Monsoon Wedding
Directed by Mira Nair
Produced by Caroline Baron
Mira Nair
Written by Sabrina Dhawan
Starring Naseeruddin Shah
Lillete Dubey
Shefali Shah
Vasundhara Das
Vijay Raaz
Tillotama Shome
Music by Mychael Danna
Cinematography Declan Quinn
Edited by Allyson C. Johnson
Production
company
Distributed by USA Films
Release dates
 30 August 2001
(première at Venice)
30 November 2001
(Worldwide)[1]
Running time
 114 min
Language English, Hindi, Punjabi
Budget US$1,200,000[2]
Box office US$30,787,356[3]

Monsoon Wedding is a 2001 film directed by Mira Nair and written by Sabrina Dhawan, which depicts romantic entanglements during a traditional Punjabi Hindu wedding in Delhi. Writer Sabrina Dhawan wrote the first draft of the screenplay in a week while she was at Columbia University's MFA film program.[4] Monsoon Wedding earned just above $30 million at the box office.[3] Although it is set entirely in New Delhi, the film was an international co-production between companies in India, the United States, Italy, France, and Germany.[5]

The film won the Golden Lion award and received a Golden Globe Award nomination. A musical based on the film was in development and was premiered on Broadway in April 2014.[6] The film was premiered in the Marché du Film section of the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.[7][8]

Plot

The film's central story concerns a father, Lalit Verma (Naseeruddin Shah), who is trying to organize an enormous, chaotic, and expensive wedding for his daughter, Aditi (Vasundhara Das), for whom he has arranged a marriage with a man, Hemant Rai (Parvin Dabas), she has known for only a few weeks. As so often happens in the Punjabi culture, such a wedding means that, for one of the few times in each generation, the extended family comes together from all corners of the globe, including India, Australia, Oman, and the United States, bringing its emotional baggage along.

The movie focuses on the struggle put by Pimmi and Lalit for their daughter. Meanwhile, Tej Puri (Rajat Kapoor), Lalit's brother-in-law, who had given Lalit a new life, arrives. But a cousin of Aditi, Ria Verma (Shefali Shah), stays away from Tej, as the latter had earlier molested her, and now does the same to a younger relative.

Aditi tells Hemant about her passionate affair with her married ex-boss Vikram, to which Hemant first reacts angrily but later accepts the fact, as Aditi is breaking up with Vikram. On the other hand, P.K. Dubey (Vijay Raaz), the wedding planner, falls in love with Alice, the maid of the Vermas. One night before the marriage, after a series of jokes and dances, Ria catches Tej taking Aliya for a "drive" - supposedly planning to rape her. Ria reaches on time and confesses that she knows everything about his nature. Heartbroken, Ria leaves the ceremony. The next day, Lalit goes to Ria and pleads her to return, to which she agrees; but he also tells her that he can't disown Tej: as a family member, they are indebted to Tej. But hours before the wedding, Lalit tells Tej and his wife to leave the wedding and the family, as he will go to any extent to protect the children of the family. Tej and his wife leave the family and the wedding.

Soon, during the wedding ceremony, Dubey and Alice get married happily with the help of the Vermas; Aditi and Hemant tie the knot; Ria moves on with her past life and supposedly falls in love with another family member. All is well and the end shows everyone happy and dancing to the music.

Cast

Soundtrack

The soundtrack includes a qawwali by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, a ghazal by Farida Khanum, a Punjabi song by Sukhwinder Singh, an old Indian song by Rafi, a folk dance song. The film includes an Urdu ghazal, Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo (Don't Be So Stubborn About Leaving Today) sung by Pakistani artist Farida Khanum.

All music composed by Mychael Danna (except where listed).

No. TitleMusic Length
1. "Feels Like Rain"    0:28
2. "oh kanjara ve [you rascal]" (Performed by Sukhwinder Singh)Sukhwinder Singh 5:11
3. "Baraat"    2:13
4. "Aaj Mausam Bada Beimann Hai (*) [Today The Weather Plays Tricks on Me]" (Performed by Mohammed Rafi)Laxmikant-Pyarelal (*) 3:20
5. "Your Good Name"    3:38
6. "Delhi.com"    1:41
7. "Fuse Box"    2:31
8. "Mehndi / Madhorama Pencha" (Performed by Madan Bala Sindhu)  3:26
9. "Banished"    0:52
10. "Good Indian Girls"    3:41
11. "Fabric / Aaja Savariya" (Performed by MIDIval Punditz)  3:01
12. "Allah Hoo" (Performed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan)  4:39
13. "Hold Me, I'm Falling"    2:57
14. "Love and Marigolds"    2:45
15. "Chunari Chunari (**)" (Performed by Abhijeet and Anuradha Sriram)Anu Malik (**) 4:08
16. "Aaja Nachle" (Performed by Bally Sagoo feat. Hans Raj Hans)Bally Sagoo 3:40
17. "Aaj Mera Jee Kardaa - (Zimpala remix)"    4:56
18. "Fuse Box - Alex Kid's Dub Remix"    6:14
19. "Fuse Box - Julio Black Remix"    3:03

Awards

The movie won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Mira Nair was the second Indian (after Satyajit Ray for Aparajito) to receive this honour.

Won

Nominated

Home media

This film was released on DVD in 2002. In 2009, it was released as part of the Criterion Collection.[9]

Stage musical

The film will hit Broadway in November 2015.

References

  1. ↑ "Monsoon Wedding: Cast and Crew". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2002/MONSN.php budget
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Monsoon Wedding". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  4. ↑ Muir, John Kenneth (2006). Mercy in her eyes: the films of Mira Nair. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 166–7. ISBN 1-55783-649-3.
  5. ↑ Monsoon Wedding Company Credits
  6. ↑ Garima Sharma (12 December 2012). "Monsoon Wedding to make Broadway debut in April 2014". Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  7. ↑ "Sony Classics, USA turn up Cannes buying heat".
  8. ↑ "rediff.com US edition: Monsoon Wedding heads for the US".
  9. ↑ "Monsoon Wedding (2001) - The Criterion Collection".

External links