Deceiving, loving, hopeful: Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding is simply human. From the characters to the plotline Monsoon Wedding embodies what it means to be alive. Each character is flawed as everyone hides behind an emotional mask. Even the plot features human-like characteristics: starting with happiness, leading to confusion and ending with hope. The film takes us through a pathos rollercoaster passing through every almost every sentiment a human can experience. Love, hate, hope, confusion all play lead roles in this film.

However, this influx of poignant content makes Monsoon Wedding feel overdone. Mira Nair tightly packs trauma next to trauma throughout the entire film. The introduction of a pedophile into the storyline of an already emotionally drained audience pushed Monsoon Wedding to new heights for a feature film. This movie is distant from its marriage-oriented Hollywood counterparts, however in my opinion that makes Monson Wedding all the more human. Like the title implies, the characters in this film leave their problems on their sleeves creating a “monsoon” of troubles. Although Monsoon Wedding is hard to swallow as a film, the realistic view of family life touches the audience.

At some points Mira Nair’s film seems to be a hyperbole of life: it seems both the problems and the joy are overstated. However, only after watching Monsoon Wedding do begin to realize just how accurate of a depiction Mira Nair paints. This appeal is universal in nature: no family is perfect on any corner of the globe. Although it is a Punjabi wedding set in New Delhi, the effects of this film smash local barriers.