| Internationally acclaimed director
Mira Nair (SALAAM BOMBAY, KAMA SUTRA) returns to her roots
in the city of Delhi where
djinns and dotcoms live in perfect harmony to give us the effervescent,
trilingual, hilarious MONSOON WEDDING. New Delhis all-engulfing
Punjabi culture forms the backdrop for an upper-middle class wedding;
the ceremony attracts five strands of the family from all over the world.
Each group, equipped with its own personal brand of social mores, pours
in from Toronto, Houston, Californias Silicon Valley, Australia
and Dubai to join the festivities. For the five days and nights leading
up to the marriage, the reunited clans idiosyncrasies clash, giving
the whole proceedings the feel of a big, rambunctious circus. Upon arrival,
cracks quickly emerge in the familys happy facade as illicit trysts,
betrayals and bitter feuds form and interweave sub-plots with hidden agendas
galore. The young bride is trying to maintain an affair with her married
boss, her parents dont get along, the elderly patriarch has an unnatural
fondness for the brides young cousin and even the caterer-turned-events
manager gets into the act, falling hopelessly in love with a fiesty, ambitious
maid. Through-out the proceedings, MONSOON WEDDING navigates the
waters of turbulent love across boundaries of class, continent and morality
and, when the voyage is complete and each frailty exposed, the strength
of the family weathers the storm and is lovingly affirmed. Alive with
much food, drink, elaborately choreographed dance and song, MONSOON
WEDDING features a big, talented ensemble cast and spoofy, madcap
comedy infused with tremendous colour, energy and élan. Nairs
unique take on the Hindi filmy shaadi genre was Runner-up for the
AGF Peoples Choice Award® at the 2001 Toronto International
Film Festival.
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