Monsoon Wedding (2001)
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A sprawling, chaotic wedding in Delhi serves as the backdrop for a family's complex romantic entanglements.
The story
The film's central story deals with the organization of an enormous, chaotic, and expensive wedding that is due to take place in a modern Indian family. Lalit Verma and his wife Pimmi have arranged a marriage for their daughter Aditi to Hemant Rai. Hemant is the son of a family friend who lives in Texas, and Aditi has only known him for a few weeks. As so often happens in Indian 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, bringing its emotional baggage along.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The film's central story deals with the organization of an enormous, chaotic, and expensive wedding that is due to take place in a modern Indian family. Lalit Verma and his wife Pimmi have arranged a marriage for their daughter Aditi to Hemant Rai. Hemant is the son of a family friend who lives in Texas, and Aditi has only known him for a few weeks. The extended family comes together from all corners of the globe. Lalit and Pimmi are helped by Pimmi's sister Shashi and her husband C.L. A wealthy brother-in-law, Tej, arrives from the U.S. and has helped the family financially. Tej offers to pay for Aditi's cousin, Ria Verma, to attend university in the U.S., but Ria is uncomfortable in his presence. Lalit struggles to pay for final wedding costs. Meanwhile, the eccentric wedding planner, P.K. Dubey, falls in love with Alice, the family's Christian maid. Ria becomes concerned after witnessing Tej potentially grooming a young relative. Aditi's brother Varun plans a dance, while his sister Ayesha is secretly in love with a cousin, Rahul. Before the wedding, Aditi admits to Hemant that she slept with an old lover. The night before the ceremony, Ria reveals that Tej molested her as a child. After a confrontation, Lalit eventually tells Tej to leave the family home. The film ends with the wedding of Aditi and Hemant, the marriage of Dubey and Alice, and Ria finding peace.
- First release year
- 2001
- Runtime (minutes)
- 113
- Production countries
- India; France; Germany; Italy; United States
- Original languages
- Hindi; English
- Directors
- Mira Nair
- Writers
- Sabrina Dhawan · writer
- Cast and characters
- Naseeruddin Shah; Lillete Dubey; Shefali Shah; Vasundhara Das; Vijay Raaz; Tillotama Shome; Randeep Hooda; Rajat Kapoor; Jas Arora
- Genres
- comedy-drama
- Themes
- Tradition vs. Modernity; Family Dynamics; Sacrifice; Trauma
- Tone and mood
- Exuberant; Tense; Warm-hearted
- Premise and plot tags
- Indian Wedding; Family Drama; Romance
- Content notes
- Child Sexual Abuse
- Reception
- The film received widespread critical acclaim, being praised for its blend of Hollywood and Bollywood styles and its exploration of the contrast between tradition and modernity.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 8/10 · scale: 10 · review count: 128; Metacritic · score: 77 · scale: 100 · review count: 36; Roger Ebert · score: 3.5 · scale: 4
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Globe Award · Best Foreign Language Film · Nomination
- Production trivia
- The screenplay's first draft was written in one week.; A musical adaptation premiered in New York City in 2023.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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