Exactly and Approximately

MONSOON WEDDING (2001)

EXACTLY AND APPROXIMATELY

Mira Nair is a woman of the world, and a director that directs from her heart. She began her career as an actress, and has been a producer and writer as well as a director. She lives in New York City, but much of her family still lives in India. She loves her homeland and many of her films have Indian characters—but she is so versatile that she is not stuck in one genre.

Nair was quoted as saying,” I like to be unabashed—which is an Indian trait—both emotionally and visually. It is important to have a circus to play with. As Indians—we are used to no privacy. We are used to a lot of people in a room—sleeping on mattresses. I grew up in Bhubaneshwar—a small town which is remote even by Indian standards—but I always dreamed of the world.

I am an independent filmmaker first and foremost. I have always cut my own cloth. I have never sought to be on the “A” list. I have just done my own thing—and it has thankfully brought me an audience. I want to question what the outside is—and who defines it. I often find that those who are considered to be on the outside extremely inspiring. They are the people who see through the double standards—like the kid in SALAAM BOMBAY (1988)—and the courtesan in KAMA SUTRA (1996). MONSOON WEDDING (2001) did come from my heart. What is really important to me is a sense of humor—and a mischief about life. Life is too boring otherwise. I was seen as an outsider in the beginning—and then I became an object of great envy. All the national directors want to become international.”

She teaches at Columbia University’s film department. Her own production company is called MIRABAI—and she started it in 1989, right after her success with SALAAM BOMBAY. She met writer, Sabrina Dhawan there at Columbia. Both are Punjabi and from Delhi, and they became fast friends. Nair began as a documentary filmmaker. Two of her award-winning documentaries were FAR FROM INDIA, and INDIA CABARET. She has been dubbed,” The Lioness from India”.

Nair has said,” Punjabi are the butt of many jokes—for we are an aggressive and loud people—a peasant people—known for our lusty appetite for life.

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The Punjabi are to India what the Italians are to Europe. The film is my homage to major vulgarity.”

She has directed 16 films since 1979. Her first clincher hit was SALAAM BOMBAY (1988). I liked MISSISSIPPI MASALA (1991), with Denzel Washington—illustrating the parallels that all outsiders share—a couple that was black and East Indian—and in love. I really enjoyed the rarely-seen THE PEREZ FAMILY (1995) with Anjelica Huston and Alfred Molina—featuring a standout performance by Marisa Tomei . Another hardly-seen minor classic was MY OWN COUNTRY (1998), with Naveen Andrews and Hal Holbrook—about an Indian doctor in the American South fighting Aids. Last year she tapped into the mainstream with VANITY FAIR (2004), starring the talented Reese Witherspoon. Nair has been offered the job of directing HARRY POTTER—AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX—which is to be released in 2007. MONSOON WEDDING (2001) was her 11th film. It won a Golden Globe as the Best Foreign Film of 2001, and a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. There is talk about, and some plans, to take MONSOON WEDDING to Broadway.

David Edelstein of SLATE wrote,” In a couple of spots, the picture echoes FIDDLER ON THE ROOF—as a celebration of life. If Indians flocked to Broadway the way Jews do—I’d suggest throwing in a few more songs and dances—and making it a musical. I would run forever.”

Mira Nair said,” I am turned on by the chaos on the streets of India. I want to use it—to eat it up—and have every frame pulsing with life.”

She did not shoot MONSOON WEDDING in a studio. She used real locations. She had a modest budget, a cast of 68—and she shot 40 scenes in 30 days—“exactly and approximately” as her character P.K.Dube was fond of saying. The film ran 114 minutes—but a sizeable chunk of it, including the wedding scene, was ruined by an airport X-ray machine. Many scenes had to be re-shot after Nair raised additional funds some months later. Her insurance company went to the considerable expense of digitally repairing and re-mastering the big party scene that took place the night before the wedding. But the actual wedding scene, and several others, had to be completely re-shot. Nair, happily, felt that they actually came out better the second time.

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She was very creative on her shoestring budget. The house they filmed in for the Verma family belonged to some friends of hers. She adores art—and all those fabulous paintings on the walls either belonged to her, or to other friends. Much of the furniture, the saris, and other décor came from her own home, or from her parent’s residence. That photograph of Lalit’s deceased brother, Surinder—was actually the deceased owner of the house they filmed in. Nair believed that no one should show a photo in a film of a deceased person—unless that actual person in the photograph was dead—or it could bring bad luck. Nair’s own family—her mother, brother, nephew, and cousins appeared in the movie. She shot like an early John Cassavetes—with little money, a huge amount of creativity—being surrounded by family and friends.

She realized that she had to expand the scope of the film beyond the rooms and the yard of the Verma home. That was one of the reasons that she juxtaposed several vibrant real docu-shots from the teeming streets of Delhi. It smeared, and then cemented the action with authenticity and humanity—giving the film a living pulse. She felt that it was important, for instance, to follow P.K.Dube home through the throbbing throngs to his modest apartment—to show that even though he was becoming a successful businessman—he lived rather simply—caring for his mother, who incessantly chided him for not yet being married—and for not providing her with more grandchildren. As she chided him, and he undressed—there was a nice sense of the sadness as he peeled off the fancy duds—and stood sweaty in his underwear—wiping the humidity from his brow with a soft white towel.

P.K.Dube’s apartment had been sought out specifically because of the view from its balcony. That same view had been used by a famous Indian photographer in one of his successful photographs—that was well known by the populous. Nair set up the shot where Dube stared wistfully out over the city—sad and in love—with the identical composition as the famous photo. She loved the blue light on Dube’s distinctive face—with a kite festival dotting the skyline—buzzing about like bright insects.

Peter Bradshaw of the GUARDIAN wrote,” Mira Nair has returned to crank up the feel good factor with this richly detailed, funny, gutsy family comedy. Nair directs with unflagging energy, style, and pizzazz—periodically whisking her crew into the busy streets for external locations, and using the
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real-life Delhi crowds as a seamlessly integrated backdrop for her family drama. This movie is a real tonic.”

The character of Tej Puri—the close family friend that Lalit loved like a brother—who turned out to have a dark and pedophilic side—was played by a then 35 year old director friend of Nair’s—Rajit Kapoor. He had to undergo hours of make-up to have his wrinkles and age spots applied. To me, the silver streaks in his hair never quite looked natural. The actor originally cast had dropped out—and Rajit just jumped in and did a great job with a difficult part. A similar thing happened several times, as in the case of Kamini Khanna, who played the aunt, Shashi Chadha. She was an amateur, who was recruited when the actress originally cast dropped out of the project. It turned out that she did a fine job with the part, and she had a marvelous singing voice as well.

Ishaan Nair, who was the director’s nephew, played Lalit’s son, Varun Verma. Many of the plights of his own adolescence had been written into the script—somewhat tailoring the part for him. As a young person, Ishaan did love dancing and cooking, and he too had to fight his family to keep from being sent to boarding school. He was very natural and effective as the pudgy—androgynous Varum. His father was concerned about his masculinity. When angry at one point, Lalit said midst his exasperation,” I guess I should bring him a young boy.” It was said matter-of-factly—and we all understood what he meant. Homosexuality is less “bothersome” and intimidating in India—from what I’ve read.

Mira Nair said,” This was the only film that my nephew, Ishaan, has appeared in—and he was perfect in it. Today he is tall and very buff—certainly not recognizable as the sweet Varun.”

The grand party—the night before the wedding—was shot in a brightly tiled empty swimming pool that also belonged to yet another of Nair’s friends. They drained it, and were allowed to use it for one night. [When this scene was destroyed by the airport X-ray machine—it was the only one that was digitally re-mastered.] She wanted to create a kind of Felliniesque feel to the scene. She was influenced by those party scenes in 8½ (1963). The big musical number shot in the pool was led off with the magnificent dancing of Neha Dubey—who played the flirtatious cousin, Ayesha Verma. It was choreographed in the style of a Bollywood musical—but it had to be worked
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up very quickly. Neha is the real-life daughter of Lillete Dubey—who played the mother, Pimmi Verma. Lillete is an old friend of Mira Nair’s—they had been young actresses together. So the family motif—real and imagined—was multi-dimensional and layered thrice-deep.

“Bollywood” is a term applied to the Bombay film industry—the world’s largest, dwarfing Hollywood—which produces broad popular entertainments in which characters are likely to start singing and dancing at any moment, in any context. I felt that the singing and dancing in MONSOON WEDDING all rose out of the situations of plot. They were never arbitrary or illogical. They were created out of the action—natural and visceral.

David Edelstein added,” This is a very public society—and much of the fun of the film comes from watching attractive people try and sneak in and out of crowded rooms—searching for privacy—when at any instant the whole household might explode into singing and dancing—imported from the effervescent “Bollywood” genre.”

Roger Ebert wrote,” MONSOON WEDDING is one of those joyous films that leaps over national boundaries, and celebrates universal nature—the kind of film people tell their friends they ought to see. What strikes you about the film is the quickness of the comedy—the deft way Nair moves between story lines—the brilliant colors of Declan Quinn’s cinematography—and the way music is easily woven into the narrative.”

Nair used many of her own favorite songs in the movie—and many of the locations that were picked were actual places in Delhi that she, or Sabrina Dahwan, remembered from their girlhoods. Vasundhara Das, who played the daughter/bride, Aditi Verma—was a very well known Indian pop singer. She had only appeared in one other film at that time.

The music for the film was scored and composed by Mychael Danna. He has been writing film scores for 18 years. His debut film was Atom Egoyan’s FAMILY VIEWING (1987). After working with director Mira Nair on KAMA SUTRA: A Tale of Love (1996)—he fell in love with Indian music and culture. He married an Indian woman in the late ‘90s. He is Canadian, and he is considered one of the pioneers who have combined non-Western sound sources with orchestral and electronic minimalism in the world of music. He scored 8MM (1999), and GIRL, INTERRUPTED (1999).
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MONSOON WEDDING in 2000 was his 57th score. He did ANTWONE FISHER (2002) for director Denzel Washington [who of course knew Mira Nair from MISSISSIPPI MASALA. What a small world “film” can be.], and VANITY FAIR (2004) for Mira Nair. He also writes for dance companies—including a score for the Winnipeg Ballet’s GITA GOVINDA (2001)—based on a 1000-year-old classical Indian erotic poem—working with choreographer Nina Menn. His projects in the works include Deepa Mehta’s WATER, and Atom Egoyan’s WHERE THE TRUTH LIES.

James Berardinelli of REEL VIEWS wrote,” This film is an infectious celebration of life and love—throwing caution to the wind with an invitation to the hedonist in us all—Nair has constructed this motion picture so that even the most cynical curmudgeon would find himself smiling at one time or another.

Most of the movie is frothy and enjoyable—with the lush varied music of Mychael Danna heightening the delicious sense of celebration. Visually—the film tantalizes the senses—with nearly every scene offering a riot of color. But the real star of the film is its director—who in cooperation with screenwriter Sabrina Dhawan—has crafted the kind of motion picture that represents two hours of unfettered joy. The film manages to be delightful without insulting the characters, or the audience.”

Sabrina Dhawan was the writer. As a friend of Nair’s from Columbia University—she returned with Nair to the streets of their old hometown—Delhi—to help her chase ghosts. She has written 4 films—two of them for Mira Nair. Her first film, SAANJH (2000)—she wrote, produced, and directed. She appeared as an actress in MONSOON WEDDING—as the Tuppa Girl (the shop clerk).

Declan Quinn was the cinematographer. When he was 13, his family left NYC and returned to Ireland. His brother is Aidan Quinn—the actor. Declan finished high school in Ireland—coming back to America to attend film school at Columbia College in Chicago. Upon graduation—he headed back to his beloved Ireland. While there—he ended up filming some rock videos—including two for the pop group U2. Then it was back to the good old USA, to New York City in 1986. He has lensed 35 films since 1984. He shot the underappreciated under-watched Western, THE BALLAD OF LITTLE JO (1993), and LEAVING LAS VEGAS (1995) for Mike Figgis.
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He worked with Mira Nair on KAMA SUTRA (1996). He produced and lensed THIS IS MY FATHER (1998) starring his brother Aidan and James Caan. He reunited with Mira Nair for VANITY FAIR in 2004.

Nair wanted the credits for MONSOON WEDDING to seem like pop art posters from the ‘60s. She found a small Swedish firm to produce the credits. Color was almost a character to her—with the plants, flowers, costumes, banners, paintings, and walls all bathed in Mother India golden yellows, saffron, and a dozen shades of orange. It gave a definite lushness to the film.

Charles Taylor of SALON.COM wrote,” This eye-popping Indian wedding comedy is a guaranteed art house hit. Too bad it misses all the good jokes. It opens up with a blast of music that sounds like what might happen if a marching band tackled Indian top 40. The credits appear behind shifting pop-your-eyes-out color—so bright it almost hurts to look at the screen—reminiscent of the psychedelic credits in those ‘60s movies—that were so desperate to prove they were “with it”.”

Nair used both intense rehearsals and wide open improvisation to create a carefully “controlled” sense of luscious chaos—and a definite sense of family. Although this was a story of a middle class Punjabi family—they lived large and had a maid—and there was a definite space between them and the domestics they hired to set up the wedding. She wanted to portray the two worlds, and give an UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS feel to the piece.

These days, whenever any director puts together a successful ensemble movie—they are compared to Robert Altman—the king of the ensemble film. In MONSOON WEDDING there are some parallels to his own film, A WEDDING (1978), as well as GOSFORD PARK (2001).

Roger Ebert wrote,” As in an Altman film—we plunge into the middle of an event—and gradually figure out who everyone is—just as the members of the two family’s must.”

Mira Nair skillfully juggled five shiny balls in the air—five overlapping love stories. There are six scenarios, if you count the implied one of the prodigal son that returned during the wedding ceremony—and quickly began to

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connect, or reconnect with the passionate neice—Ria and Mohan. There were:
1. The Bride & Groom—Adita and Hemant
2. The Parents—Lalit and Pimmi
3. The Uncle & Aunt—C.L.Chadha and Shashi
4. The Cousin & the Australian NRI [Non-Resident Indian]—
Ayesha Verma and Rahul
5. The Wedding Contractor & the Maid—P.K.Dube and Alice.

Nair wanted to create a story of “modern” India—thus the three languages—English, Punjabi, and Hindi. She claimed that only the most profound and emotional speeches were heard in Punjabi—like the touching scene between Lalit and Pimmi—after he has been told of his best friend’s (Tej Puri) plausible pedophilia. His heart is torn apart—and he is exhausted by the arrangements for the wedding—having to be the ringmaster for the Family Circus.

Lalit: (Weeping) Pimmi—help me—I’m falling—and I don’t know what to do.

Nair presents us with a multi-layered multi-lingual mosaic wherein everyone has a chance to get ahead—with the traditional attire and customs appearing alongside levis and tank tops, the internet, cell phones—peopled by modern independent youth who still respect the customs and traditions of the past, while simultaneously embracing the lure of the present and the promise of the future. The bride-to-be, (Vasunhara Das) Aditi, and her soon-to-be groom, [Parvin Dubas—who was as very successful Indian model. This film was his big film break] Hemant—were both respectful of their parents wishes and the family traditions—as well as quite capable of just walking out of, or canceling an affair if they so wished. This is not a simple world. Nair has given us a place where everyone is more than they seem—and all that they can be.

In the film, Adit was still carrying on an affair with a married Talk Show host, and she continued to see him right up to the day before her wedding. She was caught in a car with steamed up windows in a compromising situation with this lover—and she was rousted by a pair of over zealous, arrogant, and irate policemen. This incident did a lot to give her some perspective on her relationship with her lover. She decided to tell Hemant
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about her affair—on the eve of their nuptials—out of guilt, honesty, and guile. At first he was very angry—and then he reconsidered.

Hemant: I’m glad you told me. It doesn’t make me happy to know you slept with another man—but on the other hand, you didn’t have to tell me—and still you chose to do so. I value that honesty in our relationship. And after all—whether our parents introduce us—or whether we meet in a club—what real difference does it make?

There were several instances in the film whereby the family shot barbs at the westernization of the non-resident Indians. Hemant was a computer programmer in Houston, Texas.

Lalit: Computer engineers are India’s biggest export. Tej—would you like a cigar?
Tej: Thanks, I’ve given up.
Lalit: American makes everyone give up smoking.

The cigars were a box of Havana’s that Mira Nair’s brother had picked up. He let them use it as a prop with the proviso that none of them ended up being smoked.

Lalit Verma was played by veteran Indian film star—Naseeruddin Shah. His mere presence seemed to galvanize the others. Shah has appeared in 125 films since 1975—most of them within the huge Indian film industry. We did get a good glimpse of Shah as Captain Nemo in THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN (2003).

Vijay Raaz played planner P.K.Dube. Nair adored his presence, and praised his acting. She kept expanding his part. She liked every nuance of the way he used his mouth, his thin bony body, and his big ears. He was a great improviser—and a lot of Dube’s dialogue and extended scenes were created fresh for the camera. Dhawan did not write such a fully fleshed-out character—that only happened because of the talents of the actor. Nair compared his natural flair for comic movement to the great Jacques Tati, and his sadness to Buster Keaton. Raaz’s career escalated after this film. MONSOON WEDDING was his fourth film, and his largest role. Now he has appeared in 25 films since 1999. He played the Indian servant in Nair’s VANITY FAIR (2004).

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Mira Nair was quoted as saying,” I love hands and I love lips. I never cast lipless actors. So Kenneth Branagh—no thank you. It is a weird thing—but I do have these two obsessions.”

Nair decided that the romance between P.K.Dube and the maid, Alice, (Tilotama Shome), would represent the “heart” of the film. Alice had freshness, simplicity, and was quite traditional in dress and manner. He was attempting to be quite modern—dressing in outrageous outfits with puffy scarves, pushed up sleeves, and fancy sun glasses. He ran a business, had employees, carried a cell phone, and talked computers. So theirs would become the marriage of the old and the new-- the marriage ceremony would be tiny, personal, warm, and uncomplicated—and it would parallel in time the huge wedding of the principles—Aditi and Hemant. Dube and Alice were both shown to like eating marigolds. Dube ate the whole flower, and Alice nibbled on the center. One got the feeling that theirs would be a “good” marriage.

Rod Armstrong of REEL.COM wrote,” Rarely do films come along that are as intelligent, exuberant, and moving as MONSOON WEDDING. Director Mira Nair’s kaleidoscopic portrait of an Indian family preparing for their daughter’s “arranged” marriage takes a cue from Robert Altman—and succeeds in creating a vivid panoply of characters—and telling a variety of stories. In under two hours [114 minutes], Nair manages to reflect on Indian culture, class differences, and matters of the heart—all the while entertaining her audience immensely.”

David Edelstein wrote further,” By the film’s climax, you are so transported—you can almost smell the spices and feel the humidity on your skin. When the groom’s enormous procession fights its way through the hard rain to the bejeweled bride—Nair’s chaos downright sparkles.”

The wedding band Nair used was a real traditional wedding band that is quite well known in Delhi. The “hard” rain for the wedding scene was man-made—both times she filmed it. Some of the other rain scenes were natural. She wanted to establish the monsoon-feeling; sudden showers and downpours—mixed with clearing and steaming humidity.


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Charles Taylor also wrote,” There is something in MONSOON WEDDING of the forced cheery conventionality of MGM in the ‘50s—the idea that the deepest contentment can be found in the blandest of suburbia
[The ANDY HARDY, FATHER OF THE BRIDE mentality—later expanded to TV sit-coms like OZZIE & HARRIET and DONNA REED.]
--so the film’s optimism rings false for many of the same reasons.”

Ann Homaday of THE WASHINGTON POST wrote,” A spirited, sprawling tale of the days leading up to an arranged marriage, MONSOON WEDDING combined voluptuous production values of the most lurid “Bollywood” musical—the class dynamics of UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS—and the family melodrama of TV’s DALLAS—to create an exuberantly vivid portrait of contemporary India. If the movie ultimately becomes too besotted with its own beauty—it nonetheless provides a visually dazzling and deeply affectionate glimpse of the tensions and traditions that animates much of Indian life. Narrative limitations are forgiven in the face of Nair’s infectious love for the fervid energy of her homeland—and the many sensuous felicities with which she conveys it.”

Mira Nair wanted it understood that though her musical numbers, especially the one in the empty swimming pool at the party, were homage to Bollywood—it was not truly in the Bollywood tradition. Those Bombay films have huge budgets, and the musical numbers are most often shot in large indoor studios—ala Busby Berkeley. The numbers include dozens, even hundreds of dancers—and they contain many complicated crane and tracking shots—with every frame re-looped and polished later. Nair had 68 people in her cast, and she used most of them in that quasi-Bollywood swimming pool dance scene—but she was quick to differentiate that her dance number was “modest” in contrast to the more flamboyant and overblown “Bollywood” numbers in other Indian films.

Wedding films have been a staple for the movie industry from day one—flicker one. Often the trials and tribulations of arranging for, and having a wedding—are dealt with in a comic fashion. When my middle daughter got married this last April—while midst our arrangements, the family became fond of referring to her as “Bridezilla”. The two films that mostly parallel MONSOON WEDDING are Robert Altman’s A WEDDING (1978)—where there are several overlapping plots, dozens of characters to keep track of, and lots of ensemble acting—and the rambunctious runaway hit MY BIG
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FAT GREEK WEDDING (2002). Levity finds its own level in these films—we laugh, we clap, we cry watching these movies. There was a lot of good writing and clever humor, for instance, in George Cukor’s THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940), and pure mischievous mayhem the Australian romp, MURIEL’S WEDDING (1994). We all had a ball prepping for the nuptials in last year’s SIDEWAYS (2004)—and had to snicker through the third in the American Pie series—AMERICAN WEDDING (2003) with Eugene Levy.

Often though we are treated to the more serious side of weddings—like in John Ford’s HOW GREEN IS MY VALLEY (1941), Coppola’s THE GODFATHER (1972), Scorsese’s GOODFELLAS (1990)—the unique version in FRIDA (2002) with the radiant Salma Hayek—the sweaty bombast and tears of joy from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1971)—out West with Jimmy Stewart in SHENANDOAH (1965)—and the pomp and purity of Julie Andrew’s regal wedding scene in THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965).

Roger Ebert concluded,” There is an unreasonable prejudice in this country against any film that is not exactly like every other film. People cheerfully attend assembly-line junk—but are wary of movies that might give them new experiences—or take them to new places. MONSOON WEDDING is the kind of film where you meet characters you have never been within 10,000 miles of—and feel like you know them at once.”

With this movie, Mira Nair has given us a valentine—a heartfelt comedic and dramatic look at a contemporary India—the dwindling class differences—a pungent environment to spend a couple hours in—and a solid peek into the emotions—both the dark and light moments—that most families experience when it is time to marry off one of their precious daughters. Yes, in terms of weddings everywhere—the rituals and traditions can vary—but somehow after those vows are taken—and the infinite possibilities of the future begin to stretch out in front of that pair of young people—our tears well up and our hearts press hard against our chests—and hope springs eternal. I would rate this film at 4 stars.

Glenn Buttkus 2005