Bollywood films have been mentioned before on this blog, with some commentors feverishly supporting them, and some treating them with indifference…
Mira Nair is an Indian director with a keen eye for portaying human emotions, and while her films are proud to show Indian traditions and customs, she doesn’t shy away from social problems like many mainstream Bollywood flicks.
Monsoon Wedding is a very good, very realistic look at a chaotic Indian family in the tumultuous waves of a wedding.
Ack, it’s an eye-to-eye look at New Delhi, with the insufferable traffic and the dirty streets with the pulsating street markets and the vibrant colours.
Unlike standard Bollywood movies, there’s no dressing up of the main characters, and there’s muchas smoochies shown on film. The music is a vivid component of the film, without it turning into a musical. Nair did a masterful job of creating an engrossing story that is well complemented by the richness of Indian culture.
And it’ll make you sick.
Even though a wedding should be a joyous celebration, Nair turns all her characters inside out, showing their dark, pulpy organs without giving too much away, a son is unacceptably effeminate, a daughter struggles with her illict relationship and the uncle well, no need to bring perversions like that into this post.
Oh, but don’t feel down you’ll be lifted up by the hot young female cousin that shakes her thing, the handsome male cousin that finds his courage and the father that does the right thing.
Like other good movies about the family, Monsoon Wedding makes you reflect of your own family.
I, for example, have an aunt that talks when her mouth is full of food. It’s so repulsive that I consciously try and sit facing away from her.
And another aunt that had a powerful body odour when I was young, I thought she smelled of rotting meat, and suspected that she was a ghoul.
Ah, reflections…
Monsoon Wedding is a grand pleasure to watch, and stirs the desire to buy a ticket to India to see the festivals and colours in person. Behind the culture, though, Nair shows us characters that are as dirty and corrupted as the vilest fiends in Australia.
By the end, hopefully, you’ll feel refreshed by the heavy monsoon rains shown in the film, the force of the falling water drenching anyone caught outside, but, at the same time, cleaning skin of dust and grime.
To watch more movies like Monsoon Wedding (2001) hurawatch
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