Why do Indian weddings bring out the worst in people? Is it the close proximity in which relatives (who do not really like each other much anyway) have to live together for the festivities? Is it the newly found responsibilities and the heightened emotions that organising such activities arouses? Or is it just because you see people as they really are?

Prospective bridge and bridegroom busily hiding their little foibles and blemishes from their soon-to-be in-laws. Mother and father mentally preparing themselves for the loss of a daughter, or the gain of one. The elders expecting the 'maan' (respect) due to them. Old memories, long-forgotten slights and hostilities all resurface to claim their proper place.

Mira Nair's new film 'Monsoon Wedding' brings out all of these facets skilfully to the fore. The film, that narrowly missed being nominated for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category for this year's Academy Awards (Oscars) by the other blockbuster 'Lagaan', is a delight. Based over four days, during the wedding celebrations of Delhite Aditi to her USA-based beau, the story explores the lives of the Verma family.

Old skeletons, buried deep, are unearthed once more. Aditi's passionate love affair with a married man; her father's financial crisis in trying to pay for the escalating weddings costs; Riya's dark secret; cousin Ayesha's attraction to their Australian cousin; the elder Verma's marriage. The film portrays the general mixed-up part western, part eastern family group all played out to the pulsating rhythm of some excellent film, dance and bhangra tracks.

There are in essence, two weddings. Aditi's, that of the moneyed Indian middleclass and that of their maidservant, Alice to the wedding organiser P K Dubey, representing India's vast majority of working class. The former wedding with all the pomp and fanfare and the latter with simplicity, warmth and a few edible marigolds.

The film is a contemporary look at Indian lives in Delhi and is shot with the assured hand of a director, whose other credits include 'Salaam Bombay' and 'Mississippi Masala. It is fast-paced and funny with relatively seamless integration between dialogue and music. Directed well enough to forgive the few minor continuity problems!

The emotion and angst are real, with none of the 'melodrama' one expects from an Indian wedding. The outcome is pragmatic, bringing the film to a joyous and harmonious ending.

It is a great pity that it lost out to 'Lagaan' but then I'm glad that I did not to be the one who had to choose. I suggest you see both Monsoon Wedding and Lagaan.

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