Award-winning film Monsoon Wedding (dir. Mira Nair, 2001) has been adapted into a new musical.
The original film, which was written by Film alum Sabrina Dhawan ’02, premiered in the Marché du Film section of the 2001 Cannes Film Festival before going on to win the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival. The iconic comedy-drama also received numerous award nominations, including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Dhawan is among the illustrious Film Program alumni who have received the Andrew Sarris Award.
The off-Broadway production is running now through June 24, 2023 at St. Ann's Warehouse and features a book by Dhawan and Arpita Mukherjee.
In Monsoon Wedding: The Musical, two families converge on Delhi for an arranged marriage and what promises to be a glorious union. As festivities unfurl in song and dance, expectations and reality collide. The groom drifts between searching and belonging, and the bride’s past threatens to destroy her future. Chaos ensues, and as the nuptials draw closer, so do the maid and the wedding planner. Together they find love among the marigolds.
“People see themselves in the story of this family that does not want to split, that does not want to break despite the vicissitudes of life,” Nair told Broadway World. “In Monsoon Wedding, the story of this family is told in a combination of great truth and great fun. Fun is critical, but cannot mask darker things. We strive for a beautiful balance between silence and music, darkness and real joy. That is what I hope to create onstage—a feeling of masti, of a kind of intoxication with life."
Acting alum Sharvari Deshpande ’17 (Chhapaak, A Suitable Boy) stars as Ria in the musical production, and Masi Asare, who previously worked at the School of the Arts as well as Columbia’s Business School, penned the lyrics that accompany the music of Vishal Bhardwaj.
Buy tickets for Monsoon Wedding: The Musical here and watch the trailer for the incredible show below.
