- Monsoon Wedding
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Monsoon Wedding 
Directed by Mira Nair Produced by Caroline Baron
Mira NairWritten by Sabrina Dhawan Starring Naseeruddin Shah
Lillete Dubey
Shefali Shah
Vasundhara Das
Vijay Raaz
Tillotama ShomeMusic by Mychael Danna Cinematography Declan Quinn Editing by Allyson C. Johnson Distributed by Mirabai Films, Inc. (USA) Release date(s) August 30, 2001
(première at Venice)Running time 114 min Language English, Hindi, Punjabi Budget INR 7,000,000 [1] Box office US$ 30,787,356 [2] Monsoon Wedding is a 2001 film directed by Mira Nair and written by Sabrina Dhawan, which depicts romantic entanglements during a traditional Punjabi wedding in Delhi.
Writer Sabrina Dhawan wrote the first draft of the screenplay in a week while she was at Columbia University's MFA film program.[3] Monsoon Wedding earned just above $30 million at the box office.[2] Although it is set entirely in New Delhi, the film was an international co-production between companies in India, the United States, Italy, France, and Germany.[4] The film won the Golden Lion award and received a Golden Globe Award nomination. A musical based on the film is currently in development and is scheduled to premiere on Broadway in 2011.[5]
Contents
Plot
The film's central story concerns a father, Lalit Verma (Naseeruddin Shah), who is trying to organize an enormous, chaotic, and expensive wedding for his daughter, for whom he has arranged a marriage with a man she has known for only a few weeks (Parvin Dabas as Hemant Rai). As so often happens in the Punjabi culture, such a wedding means that, for one of the few times each generation, the whole family comes together from all corners of the globe including India, Australia, Oman and the United States.
The bride, Aditi Verma (Vasundhara Das), is nervous as she has been having an affair with her married ex-boss Vikram (Sameer Arya). The film also includes several subplots: Ria Verma (Shefali Shah), a cousin of the bride, was sexually abused by her uncle, Lalit's brother-in-law and the family's patriarch, Tej Puri (Rajat Kapoor), some years earlier and finally speaks out to prevent his abuse of her younger cousin, Aliyah. The wedding contractor PK Dubey (Vijay Raaz) falls in love with the family's maid, Alice (Tillotama Shome). The bride's brother, Varun, struggles with his father's disapproval of his longing to be a chef, and his angst at Varun's lack of conventional Indian masculine characteristics. Ayesha (Neha Dubey), the youngest marriageable relative of the bride, flirts with Aditi's cousin Rahul (Randeep Hooda), who has just returned from Melbourne. This is all set within the four days preceding the wedding, predominantly at the Vermas' house.
Cast
- Naseeruddin Shah as Lalit Verma
- Lilette Dubey as Pimmi Verma
- Shefali Shah as Ria Verma
- Vijay Raaz as Parabatlal Kanhaiyalal 'P.K.' Dubey
- Tillotama Shome as Alice
- Vasundhara Das as Aditi Verma
- Parvin Dabas as Hemant Rai
- Kulbhushan Kharbanda as C.L. Chadha
- Kamini Khanna as Shashi Chadha
- Rajat Kapoor as Tej Puri
- Randeep Hooda as Rahul Chadha
- Roshan Seth as Mohan Rai
- Soni Razdan as Saroj Rai
- Jas Arora as Umang Chadha
- Natasha Rastogi as Sona Verma
- Neha Dubey as Ayesha Verma
Family tree
Shashi Chadha C.L. Chadha Pimmi Verma Lalit Verma Surinder Verma (deceased) Veema Verma Uday Verma Sona Verma Vijaya Puri Tej Puri Umang Chadha Rahul Chadha Hemant Rai Aditi Verma Varun Verma Ria Verma Ayesha Verma Aliya Verma Soundtrack
The soundtrack includes a qawwali by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, a ghazal by Farida Khanum, a Punjabi song by Sukhwinder Singh, an old Indian song by Rafi, a folk dance song. The film includes a Urdu ghazal, Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo (Don't Be So Stubborn About Leaving Today) sung by Pakistani artist Farida Khanum.
All music composed by Mychael Danna (except where listed).
No. Title Music Length 1. "Feels Like Rain" 0:28 2. "Aaj Mera Jee Kardaa [Today My Heart Desires]" (Performed by Sukhwinder Singh) Sukhwinder Singh 5:11 3. "Baraat" 2:12 4. "Aaj Mausam Bada Beimann Hai (*) [Today The Weather Plays Tricks On Me]" (Performed by Mohammed Rafi) Laxmikant-Pyarelal (*) 3:20 5. "Your Good Name" 3:38 6. "Delhi.com" 1:41 7. "Fuse Box" 2:31 8. "Mehndi / Madhorama Pencha" (Performed by Madan Bala Sindhu) 3:26 9. "Banished" 0:52 10. "Good Indian Girls" 3:41 11. "Fabric / Aaja Savariya" (Performed by MIDIval Punditz) 3:01 12. "Allah Hoo" (Performed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) 4:39 13. "Hold Me, I'm Falling" 2:57 14. "Love and Marigolds" 2:45 15. "Chunari Chunari (**)" (Performed by Abhijeet and Anuradha Sriram) Anu Malik (**) 4:08 16. "Aaja Nachle" (Performed by Bally Sagoo feat. Hans Raj Hans) Bally Sagoo 3:40 17. "Aaj Mera Jee Kardaa - (Zimpala remix)" 4:56 18. "Fuse Box - Alex Kid's Dub Remix" 6:14 19. "Fuse Box - Julio Black Remix" 3:03 - (*) Originally featured in the Hindi film Loafer (1973)
- (**) Originally featured in the Hindi film Biwi No.1 (1999)
Awards
The movie won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Mira Nair was the second Indian (after Satyajit Ray for Aparajito) to receive this honour.
Won
- British Independent Film Award for Best Foreign Language Film
- Canberra International Film Festival - Audience Award (Mira Nair)
- Independent Spirit Awards - Producers Award (Caroline Baron)
- Venice Film Festival - Golden Lion (Mira Nair)
- Venice Film Festival - Laterna Magica Prize (Mira Nair)
Nominated
- BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film (Caroline Baron, Mira Nair)
- Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film
- Chlotrudis Award for Best Cast
- Chlotrudis Award for Best Director (Mira Nair)
- European Film Award for Best Non-European Film (Mira Nair)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
- Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Foreign Language Film
- Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
- ^ Business data for Monsoon Wedding from IMDb
- ^ a b "Monsoon Wedding". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=monsoonwedding.htm. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ Muir, John Kenneth (2006). Mercy in her eyes: the films of Mira Nair. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 166–7. ISBN 1557836493.
- ^ Monsoon Wedding Company Credits
- ^ Debesh Bannerjee (11 January 2010). "On a Musical Note". Indian Express. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/on-a-musical-note/565663/. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
External links
- Official website
- Monsoon Wedding at AllRovi
- Monsoon Wedding at Box Office Mojo
- Monsoon Wedding at the Internet Movie Database
- Review of Monsoon Wedding
Films directed by Mira Nair 1980s Salaam Bombay! (1988)1990s 2000s Monsoon Wedding (2001) · Hysterical Blindness (2002) · Vanity Fair (2004) · The Namesake (2006) · Amelia (2009)Golden Lion-winning films (1990–2009) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990) · Urga (1991) · The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) · Short Cuts / Three Colors: Blue (1993) · Vive L'Amour / Before the Rain (1994) · Cyclo (1995) · Michael Collins (1996) · Fireworks (1997) · The Way We Laughed (1998) · Not One Less (1999) · The Circle (2000) · Monsoon Wedding (2001) · The Magdalene Sisters (2002) · The Return (2003) · Vera Drake (2004) · Brokeback Mountain (2005) · Still Life (2006) · Lust, Caution (2007) · The Wrestler (2008) · Lebanon (2009)
Categories:- 2001 films
- English-language Indian films
- 2000s romantic comedy films
- Leone d'Oro winners
- Independent films
- Films set in Delhi
- Films shot in Super 16
- Desi films
- Indian art films
- 2000s comedy-drama films
- Films directed by Mira Nair
- Screenplays by Sabrina Dhawan
- Films about Indian weddings
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