Monsoon Wedding

I’m usually a bit sceptical of English films based in India, mainly because it prompts people to ask me silly questions about my childhood in Sri Lanka. So, when I went to watch Monsoon Wedding, it was not quite with and open mind. What I found was a bright, colourful film... and to my surprise, I realised that I knew people like that. In fact, the familiar scenes or little tea shops, bustling streets, crowds of ‘Aunties’ helping to choose wedding sarees and most of all the pouring monsoon rain, made me feel more than a little homesick.

Monsoon Wedding traces the run up to a hastily arranged wedding at the start of the rainy season. Members of the family from all round the world pour into the middle class home in Delhi where preparations are underway in a grand scale. As the day grows nearer family ties and strains begin to show. The film explores several aspects of love, trust and their effect on people’s lives - in the awkward relationship between the arranged couple, in the melting innocence of the ‘alternative’ wedding, the familiar love of people who have been married for years, in the father who would do absolutely anything for his children and in the abused trust of an older relative.

The filming and costumes capture the spirit of celebration perfectly. The music, with its blend of traditional and modern is lively and had me (and a lot of others too, I noticed) tapping their toes for most of the film. I left the cinema with a head full of colour and laughter and hummed happily to myself all the way home.

By Jeevani Mantotta