Something Borrowed, Something New

custom that has thankfully collapsed under the weight of common sense and basic feminism--the arranged marriage--is the subject of Monsoon Wedding, an Indian comedy that combines elements of both American and Indian films. The result is a bit topsy-turvy--let's just say Bollywood and Hollywood shouldn't be mixed in such uneven proportions.

A little background for the Bollywood neophyte. The term refers to the film industry in Bombay, an enormous collection of studios that produce all kinds of films, television series and other visual entertainment. Often a Bollywood production is recognizable by the spontaneous singing and dancing that is popular in films in other parts of the world. A large number of them come across like less lavish Moulin Rouges--except they're more grounded in realistic settings and include no Madonna covers.

Monsoon Wedding not only combines technical elements of the two film styles; it also combines languages and characters from the two worlds. Characters speak in English, Hindi and Punjabi. The arranged marriage is between native Indian Aditi (Vasundhara Das) and American-born Indian, Hemant (Parvin Dabas). They've never met and pulling off the whole marriage--from having both families meet to getting everyone in India to get along despite the cultural differences brought about by the Pacific Ocean--looks and feels like one of the Steve Martin Father of the Bride comedies. The humor is a lot faster and the hijinx are fewer, but the cultural clash corniness and the musical numbers that pop up when you least expect it tend to make the film a little better than its Steve Martin cousin.

As the title suggests, arranging the marriage is like a tropical storm, but the director's real focus here is the emotional tempest of cultural rebirth--in this case, how an Indian man reacts to traveling to India for an ancient custom versus how the family reacts to Indians who have been Americanized. It's not a new theme, but it certainly is intriguing. However, the entire thing is couched around an outdated, silly idea. The arranged marriage--the crux of the plot--diminishes the film's potential. It might be time for a monsoon trial separation.