Monsoon Wedding - A must see for fans of good cinema! (1 Viewer)

[Sanjay Gupta]

Monsoon Wedding a film by Mira Nair of Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala & Kamasutra fame, has been garnering a lot of praise from the critics worldwide. Now that the film has been released in the US, the film is receiving the same kind of praise from the US critics.
USA Today review - Tradition, laughter reign in 'Monsoon'!
Ebert & Roper give Monsoon Wedding 2 thumbs up.
Roger Ebert commented that Monsoon Wedding could well be the first Indian cross-over film into western mainstream cinema. Richard Rooper said that "Monsoon Wedding is one of the best films i've seen in the last few years". In conlusion they said that, Non-Indians should take this opportunity to go see different cinema for once, and that Monsoon Wedding would be a wonderful choice, because no one would be disappointed, since it is "one of the most entertaining films playing in cinema right now".
Roger Ebert's review of MONSOON WEDDING!( *** 1/2 )
Regarding Lagaan, it too continues to gain momentum in its run at the Oscars and also praise from more quarters. USA Today - Hooray for Bollywood, and India's 'Lagaan'!
Sanjay
Member since 1997

 

[MichaelPe]

What a coincidence... I was just planning on seeing both "Monsoon Wedding" and "Lagaan" this week after all the recommendations I've heard for these two films.

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

For those interested in Lagaan, Sony Classics is planning on a North American theatrical re-release of Lagaan in May. Lagaan had been released initially in June of 2001, but at that time it was shown primarily in cinemas targeted at the Indian community. The re-release is planned for the mainstream theaters of US & Canada. Also if interested, Lagaan is already available on DVD from Columbia Tri-Star Home Video. The DVD is predsented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic & DD5.1 sound. The DVD also contains about 18 minutes of deleted scenes.

As for Monsoon Wedding, it is currently showing in theaters accross US & Canada.

Sanjay

Member since 1997

 

[Seth Paxton]

I was just talking about this in the alternative films thread. After seeing Ebert review it, it's got my interest. Just waiting on it to show up.

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

Monsoon Wedding is now showing accross theaters in the US & Canada. It was released on the 22nd of February in the US on 2 screens and in it's second week of release it expanded to 11 screens. After generating the best per-theater average in North America two weeks running, USA Films' Monsoon Wedding expands into the top fifteen markets in its third week (8th March). The film has grossed over $300,000 from just 11 theaters and is expected to leap into the top 30 this weekend while still playing in limited release. It seems the ditributors are slowly expanding it's release nationwide and therefore if the film is not showing in your area yet, then it probably will soon.

Sanjay

Member since 1997

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

In it's third week of release, USA Films' ensemble hit MONSOON WEDDING expanded from 11 to 76 theaters across North America and grossed $779,000, jumping into the Top 25. Mira Nair's Golden Globe & BAFTA (British equivalent of the Oscars) nominee for best foreign language film averaged a strong $10,250, the highest per screen average for the third straight week and raised its cume to $1.2M. Already playing in New York and Los Angeles, Monsoon Wedding added runs this weekend in San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Boston, and few other cities.

Sanjay

Member since 1997

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

In it's 4th weekend of release in the US, 'Monsoon Wedding' jumped up into the top 20, as it collected $774,150 from 99 screens with a very good average of $7899 per screen. The total US collections of 'Monsoon Wedding' now stand at $2,208,687 well on its way to most certainly becoming the highest grossing Indian film in the US. The film is predicted to do $50 million worldwide which would make it the highest grossing Indian film worldwide.

 

[Jason Whyte]

I saw Monsoon Wedding this weekend in Vancouver and will be seeing it again for sure when it opens in Victoria this weekend.
There's such an interesting character study to all of these people living in Delhi, and what's fascinating to see here is all the characters go from Hindi, to Punjabi, to English as if it's all the same language. It's clearly obvious of everyone's cultural background (some who return for the wedding in this film are from America).
Mira Nair's "Monsoon Wedding" may very well branch Indian filmmaking to more audiences over here in US and Canada. I'd like to see the instance where a Bollywood film will do the same thing ("Asoka" fizzled, and I have yet to see "Lagaan").
This is also the first film I've seen where the ENTIRE audience sat through the entire end credits, which were just plain titles over a colorful background.
Jason

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

There's such an interesting character study to all of these people living in Delhi, and what's fascinating to see here is all the characters go from Hindi, to Punjabi, to English as if it's all the same language.

Jason, actually this is a very accurate depiction of how it is in real life. Although do keep in mind that it is not so for the entire population of India but rather it is how people from a particular strata of society speak. 'Hinglish' (mixture of Hindi & English) as it's sometimes reffered to here in India, is spoken very commonly amongst the upper middle class and the upper class. What is depicted in 'Monsoon Wedding' is a further mixture of 'Hinglish' with 'Punjabi' which is unique to Delhi due to a heavy presence of people from the state of Punjab.

Sanjay

Member since 1997

 

[Jason Whyte]

Sanjay,
Oh, I'm familiar with the language use that was depicted in "Monsoon Wedding." I'm just pointing out that it was depicited VERY well.
Jason

 

[MichaelPe]

Wow! What a film... I finally watched "Monsoon Wedding" today and I really enjoyed it. I'm glad to see that this film is doing well with critics and at the box office. The next film on my list is "Lagaan", which I hope to watch before Sunday night.

This is also the first film I've seen where the ENTIRE audience sat through the entire end credits, which were just plain titles over a colorful background.

The same thing happened here, however, the credits I saw also contained short clips of the wedding ceremony inserted every few seconds.

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

'Monsoon Wedding' continued to lead the pack of 'limited release films' in it's fifth weekend of release, it grossed $746,693 from 128 theaters for a $5834 average. Mira Nair's award-winning film added 30 more theaters and watched its gross drop a small 4% while its cume climbed to $3,281,000. 'Monsoon Wedding' has now become the all time highest grossing Indian film in the US.

Sanjay

Member since 1997

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

Time for the weekly Box Office update of 'MONSOON WEDDING'.

The film continues to do well in its sixth weekend of release, with its collections actually inching up 6% over the previous weekend. The award-winning film grossed $793,698 with a still very strong average of $5,669 from 140 theaters. The Mira Nair film has now upped its cume to $4,315,138 and it would be safe to predict that it should end up collecting no less than $6 million in the US. The film already is the highest grossing Indian film in the US and Overseas and it may well be on it's way to becoming the highest grossing Indian film worldwide (including India).

Sanjay

Member since 1997

 

[Craig S]

I finally saw Monsoon Wedding this weekend and I must concur with all the raves. This is a truly wonderful film. Director Mira Nair juggles a host of well-drawn characters with great skill - by the end of the film you will love all of them (well, all except one). The acting is flawless. I also loved the musical numbers, which are well integrated into the story and pulsing with life & energy.
If you are near a theater playing this, don't hesitate to see it!

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

In it's 7th weekend of release, 'Monsoon Wedding' continued it's record run (for an Indian film) at the US Box Office. The film grossed another $710,136, down only 11% over the previous weekend, the smallest percentage drop for any film in the Top 20. Now showing on 150 screens the film averaged $4,734 per screen, which is still the fourth highest average in the Top 20. With the total gross for the film now at $5,323,061, the film continues to outdo my predictions of its final cume and now looks all set to do atleast around $7 million in the US, if not more. The worldwide collections now stand close to $14 million and should end up around $17 - $18 million which would make it the highest grossing Indian film worldwide.

Sanjay

Member since 1997

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

Weekly US Box Office Report:

'Monsoon Wedding' in its 8th weekend, grossed $620,804 down a modest 13% from the previous weekend, from 162 screens at an average of $3,832 per screen. The film still has the third highest per screen average from amongst the top 20. The cumulative US gross now stands at $6,174,146 by far the highest ever for an Indian film.

Sanjay

Member since 1997

 

[DaveBB]

Saw this film this last weekend and was very impressed. Would recommend anyone who needs something besides the usual Hollywood crap.

'Hinglish' (mixture of Hindi & English) as it's sometimes reffered to here in India, is spoken very commonly amongst the upper middle class and the upper class.

This is common in America among Hispanic families. When I was growing up a friend of mine knew how much trouble he was in by how often his mom switched back and forth when chewing him out.

Would it be fair to describe the families in this film as upper class?

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

Would it be fair to describe the families in this film as upper class?

The family and its lifestyle and standard of living portrayed in the film is more 'Upper Middle Class'.

Sanjay

Member since 1997

 

[Seth Paxton]

I commented elsewhere after seeing this film. I liked it a lot though I didn't love it. It's a solid family drama with several touching moments. A very enjoyable film.

However Lagaan offers a more traditional musical with great songs (around a much poorer film in general than MW).

I think one reason why people stayed through the credits is that they were so well done. Some of the best opening closing titles I've seen in a long time. Very much in the line of Saul Bass style credits. I wish title/credit work was done like this more often.

Also, having music and clips from the wedding playing throughout the credits kept people in their seats.

Many people leaving around us enjoyed it much more than I did even, so I'd say your odds of liking it are pretty strong if you like warm family gathering films, a bit like Parenthood with a little less comedy.

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

Time for the weekend Box Office report of MONSOON WEDDING, but first. I have decided no longer to venture any more estimates for the film's final US gross, since each week the film out does my predictions and the estimated total gross keeps going up. But one thing is now certain, that 'Monsoon Wedding' should certainly gross over $10 million in the US. Which would put it in the top ten grossing foreign films in the US 'All time' chart. Now back to the weekend performance. In it's ninth frame, after two consecutive weekends of slight drops in it's collections, Monsoon Wedding moved back into the top 20 with a 18% increase over the previous weekend. The film grossed $732,688 from 189 screens at a still good per screen average of $3877. The film still has the 3rd highest per screen average from films in the top 20 which is an indication that the film should be able to hold its collections for a few more weeks at the least. The total cume of the film so far now stand at $7,153,030.

Sanjay