Movies like Monsoon Wedding

Cafe Society
1

In the last three days, I’ve watched Monsoon Wedding and Bend It Like Beckham. This has made me curious about other movies about Indian culture. Both movies are focused around weddings and I’m in awe of the spectacle of it all.

Are there any must see movies that are similar to these? Being and American and basically ignorant of most things Indian that don’t revolve around curry, I would like to start with movies that would be accessible to westerners. I know Bend It was more of a cheesy western girl power movie, but I could follow what was going on with no trouble. Monsoon Wedding was a little more difficult, but it was a powerful movie and even if some of it was in another language, I understood what was happening. I’ve also seen Slumdog Millionaire, though it wasn’t really my thing.

So let’s start easy and go with movies with westerners in mind. That will give me a good jumping off point. I don’t mind period pieces, but I’m more interested in modern day. I also don’t mind if the movies take place in India or if they are about immigrant families in the US or UK or whatever.

Thanks for any suggestions. :smiley:

2

Don’t know if it’s quite what you’re looking for, but Wes Anderson’s “The Darjeeling Limited” might be up your alley. A lot of gorgeous Indian scenery and interesting looks into the culture as the three white leads make their way through the country on train.

3

Right! I forgot about that one. It was on my radar at one time. Thanks.

4

Haven’t seen it myself, but The Jewel in the Crown got good reviews in its day. Gandhi won an Oscar for Ben Kingsley.

And this was just recently released here: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) - IMDb

5

Outsourced

6

Came in here just to say this one, so I’m going to second it instead.

7

I like the musical Bride and Prejudice.

8

Outsourced and bride and prejudice both sound promising. Thanks

9

I definitely recommend Bride and Prejudice. You might also like some of the Bollywood blockbusters centered around NRI (non-resident Indian, or Indians living abroad) characters.

Ones set in the US include Kal Ho Na Ho, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, and My Name is Khan, all with Shahrukh Khan (one of my faves).

10

How about an epic based around land taxes and cricket under the Raj? Lagaan’s rated as 95% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes and 8.1 on IMDB.

11

Third that one. And for anyone who is thinking of the terrible NBC sitcom, the original movie is way better.

12

I read about Lagaan. Worth a shot. I overlooked it because cricket doesn’t sound that interesting to me, but then again soccer isn’t terribly interesting to me either and I liked Bend It

13

I laughed out loud at both but in different ways. I miss the sitcom, at least it didn’t look or sound like all the other crap out there. Plus my husband and I often wish each other a Happy Vindaloo Day.

14

East is East is about a mixed English-Pakistani family in the early 70s in Britain. There’s some wedding/arranged marriage stuff. Also what was, for me, some excellent performances all round. It’s comedy-drama. There’s a sequel but I haven’t seen it.

15

Today’s Special co-written by and starring Aasif Mandvi was found to be enjoyable by both Mrs. Raza and myself.

16

Oh, and for pure silliness, I actually quite enjoyed The Guru.

17

Today’s Special is available for streaming on Netflix and they have The Guru on DVD. They don’t have East is East or *Lagaan *- *Lagaan *has been in my Saved queue for years.

18

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have Bride and Prejudice and Outsourced downloaded. Since its my day off I think I’ll watch them both.

Any others you can think of would be much appreciated.

19

I didn’t understand cricket at all, still don’t. But Lagaan made it gripping and awesome.

20

Ok, so I just finished Outsourced. Lived it. It was exactly what I was looking for. Light hearted and sweet. A lot like Bend It. Thanks a lot for suggesting it. The girl who played Asha had the most spectacular eyes. I’m guessing this movie gave rise to the tv show? I was completely unaware there was a movie.

Now I’m off to watch Bride and Prejudice. Thanks again.