Disc Details
Special Features:	The Making of Monsoon Wedding Feature Commentary with Acclaimed Director Mira Nair Theatrical Trailer
Video Format:	Widescreen (1.85:1) [SS-DL]
Languages:	English (Dolby Digital 5.1) English (DTS Digital 5.1)
Subtitles:	English, French, Espanol.
Captions:	Yes
Casing:	1-Disc Keep Case

Filled with laughs, shocks, stereotypical wedding comedy gags and a few impressive performances, the film is a vast improvement of Nair’s painfully lackluster “Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love.”

The film is less about a wedding and more about the family’s ability (or lack thereof) to tackle these deep seeded problems in time for the grand event. Nasiruddin Shah plays the beleaguered father, whose nerves are worn thin by money woes and a rapidly dissipating family. His performance is the strongest of the cast, and brings a sense of poignancy to the film. Vasundhara Das plays bride-to-be Aditi, whose secret could wreck the whole event. A captivating Shefali Shetty plays Aditi’s clever (and unmarried) voice-of-reason cousin. Vijay Raaz plays Dube, a marigold-munching wedding planner, whose humor and compassion serve as Nair’s link between the upper-class family and the lower-class servants. Together, they represent the heart and soul of Nair's film, and carry it through some of the rougher parts of the script.

Nominated at the Golden Globes for Best Foreign Film this year, “Monsoon Wedding” is not only a tender look inside a typical Indian family, but a celebration of the ever-changing culture of modern-day India. In this way, it shares similarities to recent Mexican films “Y tu mamá también” and “Amores Perros,” giving American audiences an eye-awakening look at a country many of us know little about.

The film is not your typical “Bollywood” production. Actors converse in both English and Hindi (though much of the English has such a heavy accent it’s inaudible), and music has its place in only a few sequences. Still, “Monsoon Wedding” is a refreshing film that will leave you with a genuine smile.

Picture Quality: 9/10
The video transfer is extremely vivid, with the colors of Delhi bursting onto the screen. Colors are accurate, and the picture quality is extremely sharp. There is some slight grain in the picture, but there were no artifacts visible. Excellent transfer.

Sound Quality: 8/10
The disc contains both a DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. Though very active (particularly during the scenes in the city), some of the dialogue is a bit unclear. The film is actually in English and some Hindi (those sequences are subtitled), though a few of the actor's English accents are so heavy that I wound up switching the English subtitles for the entire movie.

Menu: 8/10
The menus are standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate.
No Easter eggs found during review.

Extra Features: 6/10
Not a very impressive list of features, though the director's commentary track is a nice addition.

The Making of Monsoon Wedding is a typical featurette, with interviews of the actors and director. The director's commentary track with director Mira Nair is worth listening to. Harvard educated with a degree in sociology, Nair is extremely sharp and insightful, and it's obvious the level of detail she's put into the film.

Theatrical trailer also included.

The Final Word:
Nominated for Best Foreign Film at this year's Golden Globe Ceremonies, "Monsoon Wedding" is a light-hearted, charming film that will leave a smile on your face. Though the disc doesn't have a very impressive list of features, director Mira Nair's commentary track is a nice addition. Worth atleast a rental, "Monsoon Wedding" is a nice addition to the DVD library for fans of good pseudo-foreign cinema (technically, the film was produced in the US through IFC Productions).

Stephen Wong