Has anyone seen this--A Mira Nair film? This is just flat out a good movie. Dialogue, Character Development, and Cinematography very nice. Made me cry and laugh and wish I was from India. In fact, I'd go so far to say that only Spike Lee and Woody Allen pull off developing this many characters and subplots in one movie without getting scattered and "artsy" (not to say there's anything wrong with that). <a href="http://houston.citysearch.com/user_review?fid=12&id=11604610">see the citysearch fan reviews</a> This is in English with some English subtitles. Go see it! Next up is the Cricket movie, "<a href="http://www.brentchapman.com/cricket_coming__to_hollywood.htm">Lagaan</a>," nominated for the Oscar. btw: I have a question about Indian Weddings, but I feel stupid because I don't really even know how to ask it. Is there anyone out there fielding dorky questions about Indian culture? hey, I answered a PC virus question, recently.
*Loved* that movie. Beautiful cinematography. And nearly everyone in it was so stunningly gorgeous! And the music was great... But I don't know anything about Indian weddings. Sorry.
I've heard it was great...unfortunately, I don't have much time to see anything other than the mainstream movies released. That'll all change next month when I start my second job hours in the morning.
awesome movie... heypartner: i could try to field your questions, but i'm a second generationer... gimme your best shot
drapg, Do Indian weddings, involving the upper caste of the family depicted in the movie, not have (for lack of a better word) a "master of ceremonies?" It looked like the family performed the wedding. And the Events Manager (a lower caste) married himself on the bridge, too, correct? Do all castes do it the same? What about religious weddings?
Same here, second generation Indian. Could field your question but with as acurate answers as I know. But, sometimes it matters what religion this wedding is. I know for a fact that muslim indian and hindu indians have many difference in the customs and the rituals. But, the basic parties are the same.
Seeing as you already asked your question before my post, I wouldn't be able to answer that since I haven't seen the movie, nor am I hindu. But, I could answer any questions of yours about muslim marriages.
See, I don't know how to ask the question. I guess they were Hindu. I assumed this was some type of secular wedding with maybe some religious traditions tossed in, but not really a "religious" wedding. Rockets R Us, do you know of any weddings where the family performs the wedding with no "master of ceremonies" like a Catholic priest or Justice of the Peace? It seemed like the bride and groom and the parents did everything?????
well, from my basic knowledge, i'll try to answer as best i can... i have been to one hindu wedding (a cousin), and yes there was a "MC" or "man of the cloth"... i can't think of the name, but yes, to the best of my knowledge, there is one... i really don't remember the technical aspects of the weddings in the movie... i.e. the lack of an "MC" however all hindu weddings (again as far as i know) do have a "minister" of some sort... from what I can remember, the man is well paid and usually demands a lot from the people throwing the wedding (food, money, housing for the wedding (b/c it usually takes days for all the events to occur), etc.)... maybe someone with a more intimate knowledge can answer this better...
Agreed, an excellent movie. I was struck by how the people at the wedding were drinkig a lot of gin and partying like westerners. I guess the hindus don't have anything against drinking. BTW the plot is that an Indian computer engineer who is living in Houston goes back to India for an arranged marriage.
oh we absolutely don't! the drinking age in india is 18, but totally NOT enforced!!! i was able to get liquor when I was 13 and went their on vacation with my family! (not that I drank, I just didn't believe my cousins when they told me i could order a beer if I wanted too...)
In every Indian wedding that I have been to, there has been a "master of ceremonies." I'm not sure about different castes doing the ceremony differently...
Nope. In a muslim wedding, there's a master of marriage, though I don't remember what the position is called. The master of ceremonies would be the families in a joint effort. The groom and the bride sit on both sides of him and the groom tells the master of marriage that "he does". But, the bride tells her family members that "she approves" because in a muslim marriage, a girl cannot be married unless she approves. You should see the indian move "Khabe Kushi Khabie Gham" and watch the scene from the muslim marriage. It's actually during a song, called "Yeh Ladki Hai Allah" At the end of the song, the girl tells her friend that she approves
<i>The Charlie Rose Show</i> (PBS) has something on <i>Monsoon Wedding</i> in the next half hour on Channel 8 (Houston). Mango
I saw the movie a couple of days ago. Excellent excellent movie. Indian weddings always involve some sort of religious figure. Just because one is of lower caste does not mean that you can't get a pandit (priest) to perform a wedding. Caste does not matter. I think the reason they showed the planner and the servant getting married by themselves had more to do on a romantic level then caste system. Watch City of Joy (its even better then Monsoon Wedding) and you can see a priest performing a wedding for a lower caste family. As for Lagaan I can't tell you good that movie is. I must have literally seen it 10 times and its a 3.5 hr movie. You dont have to know that much about cricket to feel the pain the people are being put through.
R0ckets03, So tell me then, why was there no priest in the main wedding? Did you see one? Mira Nair was on Charlie Rose and said that she is punjabi sp? and referred to it as more a secular identity than religious. She said she's from the generation (or free spirit) who are educated and like to drink gin and dance and live life "with passion." Maybe her idea of a wedding is no priest, or at least she didn't what to depict one in the movie.
Wow...I'll have to check out the movie. I have a computer engineer who works for me who is from India. He is from the upper caste (I think that's right; he is from the caste that hindu "priests" come from; he eats no meat and does not drink). He left for India a few months ago to get married, and his marriage was arranged. Last night, he and his wife had our senior network manager and myself over for dinner. I think we were their first guests. I'm not so sure I was comfortable with the cultural differences. I'm accustomed to my own wife who has more education, works longer hours, and makes more money than I do. My wife definitely has an opinion and isn't afraid to share it. His wife said nothing unless specifically addressed. He had just a small plate of food while we ate and she ate nothing. I didn't point out that she wasn't eating, but I did ask him why his plate was so small, and he said that he would eat later with her. Later turned out to be over four hours later after the senior network manager left (I had left a little earlier). Strange.
heypartner, I haven't seen the movie, but to answer your question.. Yes there is always a 'priest' or a 'religious person' who performs the wedding. In Hindu religion, He is called 'Pandit' and generally belongs to the Brahmin caste. Actually he is the one who sets the Wedding date/time(called 'Muhurrat' in Indian languages). Generally, weddings are religious ceremonies. May be Mira Nair downplayed the religious part of that wedding and concentrated more on the other events that happen during an Indian Wedding. on the side note, I think the best work from Mira Nair so far is 'Salaam Bombay'.
I returned the movie already, but AB's answer seems logical to me. Nair probably just downplayed it. I'm Indian and watch many Indian movies and I didn't think anything was strange about that aspect. On a sidenote, India is not as backwards as some people might think. Cities like Bombay and Delhi are very Westernized (not that that is a good or bad thing). The posh areas are probably better then that of Houston. People speak English and there are clubs, etc. Its also not strange to see Indian people drinking. Just wanted to point that out.
