Filmography
Sep. 21st, 2007 11:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_lady_lilyMonsoon Wedding
I absolutely loved this film. It's amazing how many social issues it manages to fit in without feeling either clunky or overburdened, and it has moments that make you nearly tear up and laugh out loud for joy. Which, in my book, makes it deserve five stars.
The plot is that Lalit Verma and his extended family are getting together for the arranged marriage of his daughter Aiditi in New Delhi. The film begins a few days before the wedding and progresses forwards, unravelling subplots all the way.
The first is that Aiditi is not over her ex-boyfriend, who's married and won't leave his wife. After meeting up with him for a last quickie and nearly getting caught by the police, she confesses all to her groom-to-be, Hemant; after having a moment, thankfully he decides that it's worth giving a go, she decides the same, and it looks like they've got a chance of moving forward happily together.
This is resolved about two thirds of the way through the film, making room for the really nasty subplot to surface and be resolved. It turns out that Lalit's good-as-brother has a thing for young girls, had been inappropriate with his niece (who is now adopted into the family after the death of her father) and is starting up with the younger daughter. It's all very icky, but thankfully the younger daughter is spared and the unpleasant man gets his comeuppance in a dramatic show of will by Lalit - considering the emphasis put on how important family is, you feel incredibly sorry for him as he's torn in two, but very very glad he makes the right decision.
There's a beautiful subplot surrounding the wedding planner, P.K. Dubey, who falls for the Vermas' maid Alice, a simple girl who works very hard without getting much in return. He's completely smitten in good romantic Bollywood style, and to be honest, that's where most of the Bollywood plot stuff comes in. It's also the bit where I found myself nearly in tears for the sweetness - he's so genuinely, completely, devotedly, thoroughly in love with this sweet quiet girl that you're just delighted it all turns out alright. Plus there are some beautiful shots involving heavily symbolic marigolds, which are a visual delight.
The whole film is beautifully shot, actually - the wealth of textures and images, with general shots of India's bustling capital cut in as day shifts into night shifts into day, provides a varied and pleasing feast for the eyes. It's not that the colours are inevitably brash, in fact the strong colours of saris are well balanced against the green of the family gardens or the pale colour schemes of interior rooms. It's a beautiful film.
So, yes, top marks and definitely worth a watch - it's an interesting meld of Western and Indian culture, but doesn't struggle with the connect as the families it is portraying do.
I absolutely loved this film. It's amazing how many social issues it manages to fit in without feeling either clunky or overburdened, and it has moments that make you nearly tear up and laugh out loud for joy. Which, in my book, makes it deserve five stars.
The plot is that Lalit Verma and his extended family are getting together for the arranged marriage of his daughter Aiditi in New Delhi. The film begins a few days before the wedding and progresses forwards, unravelling subplots all the way.
The first is that Aiditi is not over her ex-boyfriend, who's married and won't leave his wife. After meeting up with him for a last quickie and nearly getting caught by the police, she confesses all to her groom-to-be, Hemant; after having a moment, thankfully he decides that it's worth giving a go, she decides the same, and it looks like they've got a chance of moving forward happily together.
This is resolved about two thirds of the way through the film, making room for the really nasty subplot to surface and be resolved. It turns out that Lalit's good-as-brother has a thing for young girls, had been inappropriate with his niece (who is now adopted into the family after the death of her father) and is starting up with the younger daughter. It's all very icky, but thankfully the younger daughter is spared and the unpleasant man gets his comeuppance in a dramatic show of will by Lalit - considering the emphasis put on how important family is, you feel incredibly sorry for him as he's torn in two, but very very glad he makes the right decision.
There's a beautiful subplot surrounding the wedding planner, P.K. Dubey, who falls for the Vermas' maid Alice, a simple girl who works very hard without getting much in return. He's completely smitten in good romantic Bollywood style, and to be honest, that's where most of the Bollywood plot stuff comes in. It's also the bit where I found myself nearly in tears for the sweetness - he's so genuinely, completely, devotedly, thoroughly in love with this sweet quiet girl that you're just delighted it all turns out alright. Plus there are some beautiful shots involving heavily symbolic marigolds, which are a visual delight.
The whole film is beautifully shot, actually - the wealth of textures and images, with general shots of India's bustling capital cut in as day shifts into night shifts into day, provides a varied and pleasing feast for the eyes. It's not that the colours are inevitably brash, in fact the strong colours of saris are well balanced against the green of the family gardens or the pale colour schemes of interior rooms. It's a beautiful film.
So, yes, top marks and definitely worth a watch - it's an interesting meld of Western and Indian culture, but doesn't struggle with the connect as the families it is portraying do.
