movie world

Like all of Mira Nair's feature films, Monsoon Wedding is a multi-layered text, open to multiple readings, and accessible from multiple vantage points. Regardless of how one approaches the film, or what one finds their eyes and ears drifting to on different viewings, new insights and rewards are sure to present themselves.

In Monsoon Wedding, its monsoon season in New Delhi as family and friends gather to celebrate the arranged marriage of Aditi (Vasundhara Das) and Hermant (Parvin Dabas). As Aditi’s father Lalit (Naseeruddin Shah) fusses over the wedding arrangements, family and friends arrive from around the globe; Australia, The United States, Dubai. Modern India and its ancient customs collide and the humid temperatures of New Delhi during the monsoons aren’t the only things on the rise. Passions heat up, but all is not as it seems in this celebratory scene. Just as the monsoons excavate sediments, so does this gathering stir up secrets of the past and surprising passions.

Director: Mira Nair
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah
Country: India, USA, Italy, Germany, France, UK
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

BD50 + 2xDVD9 | 1080p AVC, NTSC | 01:54:28 | 45.8 Gb + 15.1 Gb + 3% rec
Language: Hindi-English
Subtitles: English

Extras:

• Audio Commentary - recorded in 2002, this commentary features director Mira Nair. She recalls how Monsoon Wedding came to exist, what were some of the production difficulties that had to be overcome, the message of the film, etc.

• The Laughing Club of India w/ optional introduction by Mira Nair — A short film by Mira Nair about the growing popularity of clubs in India where people gather specifically to laugh.

• Naseeruddin Shah — An interview shot exclusively for the Criterion Collection in 2009 in which director Mira Nair talks to her lead actor about his experiences onstage and in film. (21 min)

• Declan Quinn and Stephanie Carroll — In an exclusive 2009 interview for Criterion Collection, cinematographer Declan Quinn and production designer Stephanie Carroll discuss creating the look of Monsoon Wedding. (10 min)

• Theatrical Trailer

• Documentary Shorts:

--- So Far From India - Ashok Sheth is one of many Indian immigrants working in subway newsstands in New York City. This documentary follows his first journey back home to Ahmedabad, where he is forced to confront the conflicts between his ancestral culture and his new live in America. (1982). (50 min).

--- India Cabaret - this documentary examines the line separating "good" and " bad" women in Indian society, specifically by focusing on the dancers at a Bombay strip club, a frequent patron, and his stay-at-home wife. The film arrives with an optional Hindi soundtrack. (1985). (60 min).

• Fiction Shorts:

--- The Day the Mercedes Became a Hat - Chris Hani, South Africa's Communist Party leader, was assassinated in April 1993, causing a wave of fear to sweep through the country's white community. This is the tale of one family as they leave South Africa on the day of Hani's funeral. (1993). (12 min).

--- 11'09'01 - September 11 (segment: India) - based on the true events surrounding the September 11, 2001 disappearance of Salman Hamdani, a young Pakistani American man from Queens, this film portrays his mother's struggle with terrorist allegations, her own fears, and her son's fate that day. In Urdu and English with English subtitles. (2002). (12 min).

--- Migration - part of a four-film series on the AIDS epidemic in India, this film examines the virus as Indian society's great class leveler, following its transmission through interweaving stories that link urban and rural India. In Hindi with English subtitles. (2007). (19 min).

--- How Can It Be? - one of eight shorts commissioned by the United Nations on themes concerning global society, this film explores gender equality. It's the story of Zainab and Arif, who live with their son, Munna, in Brooklyn. Zainab makes the complicated decision to leave her protected life and follow her heart. (2008). (10 min).