Starring Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Vasundhara Das, Parvin Dabas, Shifaly Shetty, Vijay Raaz, Tilotama Shome. Directed by Mira Nair. In Delhi, India, Aditi (Das) is about to be married to Houston engineer Hemant Rai (Dubas). The marriage has been arranged by her father Lalit (Shah) and mother Pimmi (Dubey). They are trying to decorate their home in time for the ceremony in their spacious back yard, but their somewhat incompetent caterer and wedding planner P.K. Dubey (Raaz) is continually behind schedule, fighting with Lalit when he is not munching on marigolds. He also dreams of the family's maid Alice (Shome), who is the only one in the family who has treated him nicely. Cousin Ria (Shetty) arrives early to help Aditi get ready for the marriage, and she is a bit envious of Aditi's success with men and impending marriage. Lalit's brother arrives from America to help celebrate. Both of these two have secrets that will significantly affect the family and the wedding ceremony. Aditi also continues to carry a torch for a married TV talk show host who refuses to leave his wife, leading to her decision to get married. But will her feelings cause problems for her impending marriage? Monsoon Wedding is a buoyant celebration of Indian middle-class culture. It adopts some of the style of Bollywood fluffy musicals, with scenes of dancing and singing. But it also examines serious issues of Indian life. Throughout the film is an undercurrent of the conflict between tradition and modernity. On one hand we view the luxuries of the household, the western style of dress, the cell phones, the way in which the characters move between speaking English and native Indian dialect. Contrasting that we see the keen desire of Lalit and Pimmi to provide a traditional Indian wedding, and the acceptance by even the professional engineer American groom of an arranged marriage. Family members returning from America, Australia and different parts of India allows the film to explore the foreign cultural effect mixing with Indian culture. One very good scene involves Aditi seeing her married lover on his TV set, viewing a discussion on the show of modern India, and then a traditionally dressed, deferential woman comes before the camera and simulates a sexual encounter to be dubbed onto Indian porn. The film is very good at seamlessly moving from comic to musical to serious scenes, and nicely balances all three elemnts. It deals directly with child molestation and the effects of it being unspoken for years, and the subsequent revelation and the effect on the family. One of the best plot lines involves the character growth of shiftless wedding planner P.K. Dubay, and his evolution into a man who begins to think about his future and his desire to experience the romantic wedding that he had prepared numerous times for his clients. I also liked the insertion of the hugely crowded streets of Delhi, and how the inhabitants take the heavy monsoon rains in stride. We can see India is more than the abysmal poverty experienced by many in the large cities. Oh yeah, it's not sappy either. The cast includes both actors and Mira Nair's family members and friends, and acquit themselves quite well. Especially good is Shifaly Shetty's as the unmarried, modern thinking cousin, Naseerudin Shah's harried and abrasive, but good-hearted father, and the funny but poignant wedding planner played by Vijay Raaz. Monsoon Wedding is a fun, joyful film about the conflict between changing culture and the desire to observe tradition in the modern world, managing to examine serious social issues while consistently maintaining a light touch. If you would like to respond, please click the E-Mail Press Here To Go To The Review List Page