Monsoon Wedding (2001)

A stressed father, a bride-to-be with a secret, a smitten event planner, and relatives from around the world create much ado about the preparations for an arranged marriage in India.

Director:

Mira Nair

Writer:

Sabrina Dhawan

Stars:

Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shetty

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Naseeruddin Shah	...	Lalit Verma
Lillete Dubey	...	Pimmi Verma
Shefali Shetty	...	Ria Verma
Vijay Raaz	...	Parabatlal Kanhaiyalal 'P.K.' Dubey
Tillotama Shome	...	Alice
Vasundhara Das	...	Aditi Verma
Parvin Dabas	...	Hemant Rai
Kulbhushan Kharbanda	...	C.L. Chadha
Kamini Khanna	...	Shashi Chadha
Rajat Kapoor	...	Tej Puri
Neha Dubey	...	Ayesha Verma
Kemaya Kidwai	...	Aliya Verma
Ishaan Nair	...	Varun Verma
Randeep Hooda	...	Rahul Chadha
Roshan Seth	...	Mohan Rai

Storyline

A story set in the modern upper-middle class of India, where telecommunications and a western lifestyle mix with old traditions, like the arranged wedding young Aditi accepts when she ends the affair with a married TV producer. The groom is an Indian living in Texas, and all relatives from both families, some from distant places like Australia, come to New Delhi during the monsoon season to attend the wedding. The four-day arrangements and celebrations will see clumsy organization, family parties and drama, dangers to the happy end of the wedding, lots of music and even a new romance for the wedding planner Dubey with the housemaid Alice...

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Plot Keywords:

wedding | bride | india | marriage | arranged marriage | 

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Taglines:

The Rain is coming... and so is the Family.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, including some sex related dialogue

Details

Official Sites:

monsoonwedding.indiatimes.com

Country:

India USA Italy Germany France

Language:

English Hindi Panjabi Urdu

Release Date:

12 December 2001 (France)

Also Known As:

Casamento Debaixo de Chuva

Filming Locations:

India

Box Office

Budget:

INR 7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$68,546 (USA) (22 February 2002)

Gross:

$13,876,974 (USA) (27 September 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

IFC Productions, Mirabai Films, Keyfilms Roma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The photo of Surinder (Lalit's late brother), was actually a picture of a friend of Mira Nair who had recently died.

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Goofs

Reflection of cameraman in car window when Tej starts to drive away with Aliya.

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Quotes

Ria Verma: I don't think you're ready for marriage.
Aditi Verma: I just want to settle down.
Ria Verma: So what do you do? Get married to some guy selected by mummy and daddy, you've barely known him for a couple of weeks!

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Crazy Credits

For my family

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Connections

Referenced in Getaway: Episode #14.9 (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Baagaan Di Mehndi"
Performed by Madan Bala Sindhu

User Reviews

One of the most brilliant movies I've ever seen

Monsoon Wedding was perhaps one of the most brilliant films I have ever seen. It took me somewhere I'd never been, and by the time two hours were up, I felt at home.

A lot of the film's success was in the acting. Talented portrayals of deep complex characters who can make you laugh and cry in just minutes. I was amazed how easy it was to keep tabs on no less than 5 separate subplots without getting the characters mixed up or losing interest.

Another key to Monsoon Wedding's success was how the camera told as much story as the actors and dialogue. Lingering shots on a character who doesn't seem part of the action revealed so much more than dialogue could.

And the most amazing thing - this film was made in 30 days!! Couldn't believe it. Fantastic production values, mind, not like many other Indian movies I've seen. And down-to-earth realistic, not like Bollywood. Yes, there is singing and dancing, but in context, not every five minutes!

I don't have anything against Bollywood, but I'm glad to see that there is a higher standard of Indian film-making out there.