Recent from talks
Monsoon Wedding
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Monsoon Wedding
Monsoon Wedding is a 2001 comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair, written by Sabrina Dhawan, and starring Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah and Vasundhara Das. The story is set during a traditional Punjabi Hindu wedding in Delhi and revolves around the complex romantic entanglements of the characters.
Dhawan wrote the first draft of the screenplay in just one week while in the MFA film program at Columbia University. Although the film is set entirely in New Delhi, it was produced internationally between companies from India, the United States, Italy, France, and Germany.
Monsoon Wedding premiered in the Marché du Film section of the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and went on to win the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival. The film also received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and grossed over $30 million internationally at the box office.
In 2017, IndieWire named Monsoon Wedding the 19th best romance of the 21st century. In 2023, a musical adaptation based on the film had its New York City premiere at St. Ann's Warehouse, directed by Mira Nair, with music by Vishal Bhardwaj, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead and Masi Asare, and book by Dhawan and Arpita Mukherjee.
The film's central story deals with the organization of an enormous, chaotic, and expensive wedding that is due to take place in a modern Indian family. Lalit Verma and his wife Pimmi have arranged a marriage for their daughter Aditi to Hemant Rai. Hemant is the son of a family friend who lives in Texas, and Aditi has only known him for a few weeks. As so often happens in Indian culture, such a wedding means that, for one of the few times in each generation, the extended family comes together from all corners of the globe, bringing its emotional baggage along.
Lalit and Pimmi are helped with the main planning by Pimmi's sister Shashi and her husband C.L, who have arrived earlier from Oman. A few days before the engagement, Tej, Lalit's extremely wealthy brother-in-law, arrives from the U.S.. Tej is married to Lalit's sister and has helped the Verma family regain their financial footing after the Partition of India left them penniless many years ago. Tej offers to pay for Aditi's cousin, Ria Verma to attend university in the U.S., after the family consults him for advice. Ria and her mother live with the Verma family, who took them in after the death of Ria's father (Lalit's brother). Despite his generous offer, Ria stays away from Tej and is not comfortable in his presence.
Lalit begins experiencing difficulty in paying for the final, smaller aspects of the wedding and is embarrassed when he has to borrow money from friends and colleagues. Meanwhile, P.K. Dubey, the eccentric wedding planner, falls in love with Alice, the Vermas' maid. Ria grows concerned after she witnesses what appears to be Tej grooming a younger relative, ten-year-old Aliya. Aditi's younger brother Varun plans an elaborate dance for the pre-wedding party with another cousin, Ayesha, but Lalit worries that his son is becoming too effeminate and plans to send him to boarding school. Meanwhile, Ayesha is mutually attracted to Pimmi's nephew studying in Australia, Rahul, a fact they attempt to hide from the family. Dubey's workers see Alice trying on Aditi's wedding jewellery, and the men accuse her of stealing. The incident causes her to become withdrawn from Dubey and he grows depressed.
A few days before the wedding, Aditi sleeps with an old lover, her married boss Vikram; and confesses this to Hemant. The incident only serves as a reminder to Aditi as to why she stopped seeing Vikram. Though he is initially angry, Hemant is glad for her honesty and is confident that they can put it behind them and be happy together. The workers apologise to Alice and she reconciles with Dubey. The night before the ceremony, Varun refuses to dance due to the comments made by his father, and Ayesha performs with the help of Rahul. Aditi and Hemant grow closer and they share a few intimate moments, which re-affirms their faith in the marriage. After a night of jokes, drama and dances, Ria catches Tej trying to take Aliya for a drive alone. Ria stops them from driving off and takes Aliya away from him, revealing to Lalit and others that Tej had molested her as a child. Lalit's sister does not believe her, attributing her accusations to her character and unmarried status. Emotionally distraught, Ria leaves.
Hub AI
Monsoon Wedding AI simulator
(@Monsoon Wedding_simulator)
Monsoon Wedding
Monsoon Wedding is a 2001 comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair, written by Sabrina Dhawan, and starring Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah and Vasundhara Das. The story is set during a traditional Punjabi Hindu wedding in Delhi and revolves around the complex romantic entanglements of the characters.
Dhawan wrote the first draft of the screenplay in just one week while in the MFA film program at Columbia University. Although the film is set entirely in New Delhi, it was produced internationally between companies from India, the United States, Italy, France, and Germany.
Monsoon Wedding premiered in the Marché du Film section of the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and went on to win the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival. The film also received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and grossed over $30 million internationally at the box office.
In 2017, IndieWire named Monsoon Wedding the 19th best romance of the 21st century. In 2023, a musical adaptation based on the film had its New York City premiere at St. Ann's Warehouse, directed by Mira Nair, with music by Vishal Bhardwaj, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead and Masi Asare, and book by Dhawan and Arpita Mukherjee.
The film's central story deals with the organization of an enormous, chaotic, and expensive wedding that is due to take place in a modern Indian family. Lalit Verma and his wife Pimmi have arranged a marriage for their daughter Aditi to Hemant Rai. Hemant is the son of a family friend who lives in Texas, and Aditi has only known him for a few weeks. As so often happens in Indian culture, such a wedding means that, for one of the few times in each generation, the extended family comes together from all corners of the globe, bringing its emotional baggage along.
Lalit and Pimmi are helped with the main planning by Pimmi's sister Shashi and her husband C.L, who have arrived earlier from Oman. A few days before the engagement, Tej, Lalit's extremely wealthy brother-in-law, arrives from the U.S.. Tej is married to Lalit's sister and has helped the Verma family regain their financial footing after the Partition of India left them penniless many years ago. Tej offers to pay for Aditi's cousin, Ria Verma to attend university in the U.S., after the family consults him for advice. Ria and her mother live with the Verma family, who took them in after the death of Ria's father (Lalit's brother). Despite his generous offer, Ria stays away from Tej and is not comfortable in his presence.
Lalit begins experiencing difficulty in paying for the final, smaller aspects of the wedding and is embarrassed when he has to borrow money from friends and colleagues. Meanwhile, P.K. Dubey, the eccentric wedding planner, falls in love with Alice, the Vermas' maid. Ria grows concerned after she witnesses what appears to be Tej grooming a younger relative, ten-year-old Aliya. Aditi's younger brother Varun plans an elaborate dance for the pre-wedding party with another cousin, Ayesha, but Lalit worries that his son is becoming too effeminate and plans to send him to boarding school. Meanwhile, Ayesha is mutually attracted to Pimmi's nephew studying in Australia, Rahul, a fact they attempt to hide from the family. Dubey's workers see Alice trying on Aditi's wedding jewellery, and the men accuse her of stealing. The incident causes her to become withdrawn from Dubey and he grows depressed.
A few days before the wedding, Aditi sleeps with an old lover, her married boss Vikram; and confesses this to Hemant. The incident only serves as a reminder to Aditi as to why she stopped seeing Vikram. Though he is initially angry, Hemant is glad for her honesty and is confident that they can put it behind them and be happy together. The workers apologise to Alice and she reconciles with Dubey. The night before the ceremony, Varun refuses to dance due to the comments made by his father, and Ayesha performs with the help of Rahul. Aditi and Hemant grow closer and they share a few intimate moments, which re-affirms their faith in the marriage. After a night of jokes, drama and dances, Ria catches Tej trying to take Aliya for a drive alone. Ria stops them from driving off and takes Aliya away from him, revealing to Lalit and others that Tej had molested her as a child. Lalit's sister does not believe her, attributing her accusations to her character and unmarried status. Emotionally distraught, Ria leaves.