Plot

A stressed father, a bride-to-be with a secret, a smitten event planner, and relatives from around the world create much ado about the preparations for an arranged marriage in India.

A story set in the modern upper-middle class of India, where telecommunications and a western lifestyle mix with old traditions, like the arranged wedding young Aditi accepts when she ends her affair with a married TV producer. The groom is an Indian living in Texas, and all of the relatives from both families, some from distant places like Australia, come to New Delhi during the monsoon season to attend the wedding. The four-day arrangements and celebrations will see clumsy organization, family parties and drama, dangers to the happy end of the wedding, lots of music, and even a new romance for wedding planner Dubey with the housemaid Alice.—Alessio F. Bragadini <alessio@sevenseas.org>

There is excitement in the Delhi-based Verma family, as their daughter Aditi is about to get married to Hemant Rai, who is settled in Houston, Texas, USA. Lalit, Aditi's dad, is busy giving a piece of his mind to slacker wedding contractor P.K. Dubey, who is running far behind schedule. His niece Ria is contemplating going to the USA to take up a profession; his wife Pimmi is busy smoking on the sly in the bathroom. Then the family and guests begin to arrive, from all over India, USA, and Australia. The engagement ceremony is celebrated with great pomp and ceremony, and after that everybody retires to get some much-needed sleep--everyone except the bride to-be, who is off to meet her married lover, a TV producer, not knowing that her visit at this late hour will change her life forever.—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Lalit Verma is a father who is trying to organize an enormous, chaotic, expensive wedding for his daughter, for whom he has arranged a marriage with a man she has known for only a few weeks. As so often happens in Mira Nair's beloved Punjabi culture, such a wedding means that, for one of the few times each generation, the whole family comes together from all corners of the globe. The bride, Aditi Verma, is nervous, as she has been having an affair with her married ex-boss Vikram. Ria Verma, a cousin of the bride, was sexually abused by her uncle, Lalit's brother-in-law and the family's patriarch, some years earlier, and finally speaks out to prevent his abuse of another young girl in the family, Aliyah. The wedding contractor, PK Dubey, falls in love with the family's maid, Alice. The bride's brother Varun struggles with his father's disapproval of his longing to be a chef and angst at his inability to satisfy the stereotypes of conventional Indian masculine characteristics, possibly stemming from a struggle to come to terms with the boy's homosexuality. Ayesha, the bride's youngest marriageable relative, flirts with Aditi's cousin Rahul, who has just returned from Melbourne. This is all set within the two days preceding the wedding, predominantly at the Vermas' home.—gavin (gunmasterM@hotmail.com)

The film's central story deals with the organization of an enormous, chaotic, and expensive wedding that is due to take place in a modern Indian family. Lalit Verma (Naseeruddin Shah) and his wife Pimmi (Lillete Dubey) (who secretly smokes) have arranged a marriage for their daughter Aditi (Vasundhara Das) to Hemant Rai (Parvin Dabas) (son of Mohan Rai (Roshan Seth) & Saroj Rai (Soni Razdan)). Hemant is the son of a family friend who lives in Texas, and Aditi has only known him for a few weeks. As so often happens in Indian culture, such a wedding means that, for one of the few times in each generation, the extended family comes together from all corners of the globe, bringing its emotional baggage along.

Lalit and Pimmi are helped with the main planning by Pimmi's sister Shashi (Kamini Khanna) and her husband C.L (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), who have arrived earlier from Oman. A few days before the engagement, Tej Puri (Rajat Kapoor), Lalit's extremely wealthy brother-in-law, arrives from the U.S.. Tej is married to Lalit's sister and has helped the Verma family regain their financial footing after the Partition of India left them penniless many years ago.

Tej offers to pay for Aditi's cousin, Ria Verma (Shefali Shah) to attend university in the U.S., after the family consults him for advice. Ria and her mother live with the Verma family, who took them in after the death of Ria's father. Despite his generous offer, Ria stays away from Tej and is not comfortable in his presence.

Ria knows that Aditi had an affair at her office and advises her not to get married in haste to man that she barely knows. Ria is elder to Aditi and is under a lot of pressure from all the relatives to get married. Ayesha (Neha Dubey) is Aditi's cousin, who is attending the wedding and is attracted to Rahul, Sashi and CL's son from Australia. In a wedding house, there is no privacy, but they still manage to steal a kiss at night.

Lalit is stressed about the wedding preps and the money being spent. Plus, PK demands another Rs 2 Lakhs for water-proofing the tent. Lalit begins experiencing difficulty in paying for the final, smaller aspects of the wedding and is embarrassed when he has to borrow money from friends and colleagues. Meanwhile, Parabatlal Kanhaiyalal 'P.K.' Dubey (Vijay Raaz), the eccentric wedding planner, falls in love with Alice (Tillotama Shome), the Vermas' maid. Ria grows concerned after she witnesses what appears to be Tej grooming a younger relative (Daughter of Sashi and CL), ten-year-old Aliya.

Aditi's younger brother Varun (Ishan Nair) (who wants to become a chef) plans an elaborate dance for the Pre-wedding party with another cousin, Ayesha (Neha Dubey), but Lalit worries that his son is becoming too effeminate and plans to send him to Boarding school. Dubey's workers see Alice trying on Aditi's wedding jewelry, and the men accuse her of stealing. The incident causes her to become withdrawn from Dubey and he grows depressed. Dubey's staff notices this and feel sorry for him and their own behavior.

A few days before the wedding, Aditi sleeps with an old lover (in the back seat of his car, in the middle of the night), her married boss Vikram (who is a media presenter); and confesses this to Hemant. The incident only serves as a reminder to Aditi as to why she stopped seeing Vikram (The police interrupt their love making session, but Vikram leaves Aditi to deal with the lusty cops while he goes to attend a call from his wife. Aditi drives away in Vikram's car).

Though he is initially angry, Hemant is glad for her honesty and is confident that they can put it behind them and be happy together. The workers apologize to Alice, and she reconciles with Dubey. The night before the ceremony, Varun refuses to dance due to the comments made by his father (and his determination to send Varun to boarding school), and Ayesha performs with the help of Rahul (Randeep Hooda), Pimmi's nephew who lives in Australia. Aditi and Hemant grow closer, and they share a few intimate moments, which re-affirms their faith in the marriage. PK Dubey proposes to Alice, and she accepts.

After a night of jokes, drama and dances, Ria catches Tej trying to take Aliya for a drive alone (after Aliya talks to Ria about how she knows how older people kiss). Ria stops them from driving off and takes Aliya away from him, revealing to Lalit and others that Tej had molested her as a child. Lalit's sister does not believe her, attributing her accusations to her character and unmarried status. Emotionally distraught, Ria leaves.

The next day, Lalit pleads with Ria to return to the wedding, admitting that he can't possibly imagine what she has gone through but also saying that he can't disown Tej, since they are family. Ria is not happy but agrees to return for the sake of Aditi. Hours before the wedding, however, Lalit changes his mind and tells his sister and Tej to leave the wedding and the family home. Tej's wife insists that Ria's accusation was a small matter, but Lalit stands his ground. The Monsoon rains begin as Aditi and Hemant are married in an elaborate wedding, while Dubey and Alice simultaneously wed in a simple ceremony, and later celebrate with the Vermas. Ria moves on from her past life and is finally able to freely enjoy the festivities.