My experience with Mira Nair is limited at best. I did not enjoy Vanity Fair and The Namesake bored me beyond measure, but that’s where my time watching her films ended prior to Criterion’s latest Blu-ray release of Monsoon Wedding, a spectacular dramedy surrounding a Punjabi wedding, which instantly reminded me of Jonathan Demme’s 2008 effort Rachel Getting Married, but at least this one was fun to watch.
Monsoon Wedding was released in 2001 and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film by the Golden Globes, but if I’m not mistaken it wasn’t her first knockout film, which I presume to be 1988’s Salaam Bombay!, a film I now hope to see. One thing I have always noticed about Nair is her excellent use of color, Vanity Fair particularly stands out in this regard, but I have always been so bored by her work. To the contrary, Monsoon Wedding is a lively, comedic, romantic, dramatic and emotionally gifted film that touches on all aspects of humanity and is quite simply a pleasure to watch. Making things better, Criterion has put together a package that not only shines a spotlight on the film itself, it gave me a new respect for Nair I didn’t previously have.
Along with an excellent high definition picture, boosting the power of the colors as shot by cinematographer Declan Quinn, you also get seven short films directed by Mira Nair ranging from 60-minute documentaries to 8-minute fictional features, all equipped with brief introductions newly recorded by Nair herself. To say this is an all-out introduction to Mira Nair for the uninitiated would be an understatement and it can be a lot to go through and I will do my best to be brief.
First, for the main feature. Monsoon Wedding revolves around an arranged marriage in India. At the center of the storm is a stressed father played by Naseeruddin Shah in a stand-out performance. The bride-to-be has a secret and has never met her husband-to-be who lives in Houston, which will be the first stop after the wedding. Around this bunch comes a maelstrom of familial issues, a lively wedding planner and a host of relatives. To single out Shah as the true stand-out of the bunch isn’t exactly fair to the rest of the cast, many of which Nair points out in her commentary are either non-actors that looked the part and some are also family members.
Perhaps the most touching character comes by way of the cocky wedding planner played by Vijay Raaz. This was only Raaz’s fourth film and he demands your attention in every scene be it a tree-top cellphone conversation or his crush on Alice, the family’s maid. Another strong performance that really worked for me was Shefali Shetty as Ria, a role that demanded a lot of unspoken moments and she really turned it out to the point when she finally speaks you listen.
As a matter of fact, the use of language in the film really knocked me out. The film is a mix of English and Hindi and early on I was having a hard time finding my way around the picture, but it soon becomes entirely manageable and extremely effective despite some really strong accents that are occasionally hard to understand.
As I mentioned, there is an audio commentary Nair recorded in 2002 accompanying the feature. Other supplements include an interview with Declan Quinn and producer Stephanie Carroll and another in which Nair interviews Naseeruddin Shah and tells him how it had been her desire to work with him since she was 17-years-old. There is also an included theatrical trailer
The short films are next on the docket beginning with three documentaries including So Far From India (1982), India Cabaret (1985) and The Laughing Club of India (2000) followed by four fiction films: The Day the Mercedes Became a Hat (1993), 11’09’01 – September 11 (segment: India) (2002), Migration (2007) and How Can It Be? (2008). As I said, each comes with a short introduction by Nair setting up the reasons for why she made each one and often the inspiration.
Of the documentaries, India Cabaret was certainly fascinating as it took a look at the idea of “good” and “bad” in the Indian culture using dancers at a Bombay strip club as the topic’s catalyst. So Far From India obviously comes off as an inspiration for Monsoon Wedding taking a look at the life of Ashok Sheth, an Indian immigrant working at a newsstand in New York City while his wife from an arranged marriage back in India is raising their son, whom he meets for the first time in this documentary. Finally, The Laughing Club of India sort of just got on my nerves as it details the lives of several people in India who take part in actual laughing clubs and get together and laugh as a way of relieving tension and washing away their sorrows. I have nothing against what they were doing, but — as Nair refers to it in her introduction — it’s too absurd for me to take it seriously.
The fictional titles are all worth a watch and some are absolutely extraordinary. Most notably, 11’09’01 – September 11, which is based on true events in which Salman Hamdani, a Pakistani American man who went missing during the September 11 attacks is presumed to be a terrorist. In just under 12 minutes running time the film brought up so many heart-breaking memories of that day and the events that would follow. It was part of an 11-part collection of short films from 11 different directors and I plan on renting the full feature from Netflix in the near future.
Capping off the impressive package is a 32-page booklet with an essay by Pico Iyer, which you can read right here, followed by short descriptions of the seven shorts included. It truly is a complete package and one that opened my eyes to a filmmaker I only knew from two films I didn’t particularly like. Nair directed the upcoming Hilary Swank starrer Amelia, but it’s going to have a hard time beating this one out.
As for whether or not you should buy this I think I have given plenty of reasons for hardcore film-buffs to pick it up already, but as for others, I think it is a rather safe bet most people will like this movie with many downright loving it. I already mentioned Rachel Getting Married as a film I would compare it to, and one I would find it hard to believe wasn’t “inspired” by Monsoon Wedding, but there is more heart, energy and life in Monsoon Wedding in my opinion, while it also delves in some darker issues at times. To break it down in the simplest terms this is a movie about a crazy wedding with excellent music, fantastic colors and more than one love story to go around. Hopefully that helps. It’s an excellent package for Mira Nair fans and an excellent starter kit for the uninitiated as well. Enjoy!
