#102: Monsoon Wedding

Every Indian girl has seen the movie Monsoon Wedding, directed by Mira Nair. Many even loved it. Chances are three out of five times you will find a DVD case for Monsoon Wedding sitting on an Indian girl's shelves between copies of the BBC Pride and Prejudice miniseries starring Colin Firth, Pedro Almodovar's Talk to Her, 10 Things I Hate About You and Sex and the City Season 5.

Though not as critically acclaimed as Nair's other work such as Salaam Bombay and Mississippi Masala, Monsoon Wedding is probably the auteur's most widely enjoyed film. Centered around an upper middle class family in India, Monsoon Wedding follows the story of a family's preparation for a marriage and the social and political ramifications such a momentous event has on the personal relationships of everyone involved. It is at times broad comedy and at others community commentary. It is nearly always, though, visually stunning and beautifully conceived.

Too bad the same can't be said for Kal Penn's butt in the Namesake.