The film casts Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shetty, Vijay Raazn, and Vasundhara Das along with Parvin Dabas, Roshan Seth, Soni Razdan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Tilotama Shome, Vijay Raaz, P.K Dubey, and
Ishaan.
Set in an upper class family of North India, it tells the story of families arriving in Delhi to participate in the marriage celebrations. 'Monsoon Wedding' is a story of five interweaving stories told in the four days and nights leading up to an intricate upper-class wedding. Individual stories show the different aspects of love, crossing boundaries of class, continent and morality.
Naseer and Lilette, a well-to-do couple, are preparing for Aditi (Vasundhara Das) their only daughter's wedding with parties, decorations, and hordes of relatives and lots of laughter.
But the story splinters off to three sub-plots:
Aditi (Vasundhara Das) is marrying Hemant (Parvin Dabas), an Indian living in the US. But she has a past, a relationship with Vikram (Sameer
Arya).
Vasundhara's cousin, Shefali Shetty, has a past as well. A past that wrecks family ties a day before the wedding is about to take place.
P.K. Dube (Vijay Raaz), an eccentric 'mandap' decorator, loses his heart to Alice, the maid. The celebrations have their share of heartbreaks and there are people falling in love.
What sets this film apart is that the screenplay is straight out of life, tackling adult issues such as sex and incest. The characters speak in a democratic mix of Hindi and English and that makes the goings-on motivating. It is apparent that director Mira Nair has kept the elite/international market in mind while attempting the film. This is not one of those 'masala' films that have generous doses of commercial ingredients. Sabrina Dhawan's screenplay is vibrant and is laced with witty dialogue. Cinematography is colourful and the background music is
appropriate
.
The performances from the entire cast are of a high order. Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Vasundhara Das, Parvin Dabas and Vijay Raaz enact their parts with effortless ease. But it is Shefali Shetty who delivers a wonderful performance. Managing the ensemble cast and hand-held camera with elan, shifting the tone efficiently from light to serious sequences, director Mira Nair presents a human drama that unravels several truths. 'Monsoon Wedding' - the official Indian entry into many international film festivals has won the coveted Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival making Mira Nair the first Indian, the second Asian and the first woman to win top honours in the 58-year-old festival's history.
