Monsoon Wedding
February 2003 Reviewed by: Doug Schneider Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Director Mira Nair has made some wonderful films. Two of my favorites are Mississippi Masala and The Perez Family -- gems that are often overlooked at the video store. Nair’s stories are culturally diverse, but she has a rare gift for capturing the subtleties of human behavior that gives them universal appeal.

Denzel Washington starred in Mississippi Masala. Marisa Tomei, fresh off her Academy-Award-winning role in My Cousin Vinny, starred in The Perez Family. For North American audiences, Monsoon Wedding doesn’t have that kind of star power. But like her other films, Monsoon Wedding is so rich in storytelling and character depth that it doesn’t need a headline celebrity.

Monsoon Wedding takes place in India, but Nair integrates the surroundings and culture so well into the story that within minutes you feel as if it’s a place you already know. The characters speak quickly and in multiple languages, changing back and forth from English to Punjabi in rapid succession from sentence to sentence, and sometimes within sentences! With clever use of subtitles that flick on when the language changes, one is comfortably immersed in the massive family gatherings.

The central story revolves around Aditi Verma (Vasundhara Das) and Hemant Rai (Parvin Dabas). Aditi lives with her family in India. Hemant lives in the United States. They’re about to be married, but they hardly know each other. This is an arranged marriage, and the first time we see them together we know that they’re not comfortable with each other. Unknown to almost everyone in her family, Aditi is still hopeful that her last boyfriend -- a slick TV personality -- might one day leave his wife. Hemant, uncomfortable with all the attention the wedding brings, is trying to make the best of the situation. He’s good-hearted and knows that moving Aditi from India to the US will be difficult for her. These are young people caught up in old-world traditions. It is apparent, though, that this film is not about to balk at tradition. Monsoon Wedding is a sprawling romance that intertwines old-world values with modern-day lifestyle.

Circling around Aditi's and Hemant’s story are a number of tales involving interesting characters. The most touching is the story of Alice (Tilotama Shome) and P.K. Dubey (Vijay Raaz). Their subtle romance sneaks up on the viewer and ends up being the one that really makes Monsoon Wedding into a love story. Alice is the Verma family’s shy maid. Dubey is the fast-talking "event organizer" who has orchestrated more than 150 weddings, but has never been close to getting married himself -- something his mother never lets him forget, fearing the very real possibility that she’ll die before she sees any grandchildren from him. The first time we see Alice and Dubey together is cinematic magic. Using splendid cinematography, effective editing, and an interesting choice of music, Nair creates a mesmerizing and unforgettable scene. Dubey confessing his love for Alice becomes one of the most memorable parts of the film.

It’s unfortunate to see Monsoon Wedding tarnished on DVD by so-so video and sound quality. Declan Quinn’s cinematography is lavish and colorful, but the image here is not sufficiently crisp or detailed. Whether it looked like that on film, or it's a byproduct of the way it was transferred to DVD, I'm not sure. What I do know is that the video presented here is only average looking. The sound is not very good either. Some of it can be forgiven. In one case where the music distorts quite badly (when Alice first meets Dubey), the song was an older '70s recording and the track was likely lifted from a questionable source. But often the dialogue seemed muddled too, and I ended up replaying scenes to catch all the words.

The extras are rather scarce. We only get the director’s commentary, the obligatory theatrical trailer, and a behind-the-scenes video called "The Making of Monsoon Wedding." The video doesn’t tell you much, but Nair’s commentary is excellent, thoroughly explaining the ins and outs of how this film got made, giving plenty of details about each scene that one never would have known by simply watching the film.

At a time when Hollywood seems content to make formulaic love stories, I’m thankful for filmmakers like Mira Nair. She dares to tell unique stories and challenges her audience by transcending cultural boundaries in the hope of spreading understanding and appreciation of both our similarities and differences. In her commentary she said she knew that the film would have appeal in India, but she was hoping for crossover appeal too (presumably in the United States). Monsoon Wedding certainly succeeds. It is one of those rare films that you can enjoy no matter where you live.

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