The Great Indian Marriage Bazaar

The Great Indian Wedding is the Great Indian Obsession, on par with the other two things that possess the countrys’ imagination; Cricket and Film. The Great Indian wedding is the film that India stars in, written and directed by the participants, produced to the best of their abilities. Forty percent of the worlds marriages take place in India. Of them, a staggering ninety percent are Arranged. As the director and storyteller, I decide to give into the mounting pressure I face to get married and moreover,   to get an arranged marriage, as long as I can film the journey! And so as my persistent mother is on the hunt for ‘mission-son-in-law’, I navigates through the complex system of marriage in modern-day India.

The film explores the marriage industry through interviews with private investigators, matrimonial agents, the owner of one of the top online marriage portals, a leading hymenoplasty surgeon, and well-known pyschotherapist specializing in marriage and love counseling. Alongside this journey, the film explores the journeys of two brides-to-be in Mumbai and their journeys as they go through with an arranged marriage.

AWARD:

2012 Winner of Silver Award for Best Asian Social Issues Documentary Film, New York Television Awards

Winner of the Asian Pitch 2009: full commission awarded by NHK Japan & Mediacorp Singapore [Executive Producers]

NOTABLE SCREENINGS & FESTIVALS:

– BBC World on My Country Asia
– Arte France
– Channel NewsAsia  & NHK Japan
– International Women’s Festival, Miami, USA 2012
– Tunisia International Film Festival, 2012
– Singapore International Film Festival, 2012
– Women of Color Festival, Atlanta, USA 2012
– Indian Film Festival of LA, USA 2012
– South Asian International Festival, NYC, USA 2012
– Stuttgart Indian Film Festival, Stuttgart, Germany 2012
– Indie Vibes New Generation, Frankfurt, Germany 2012

INSTITUTIONS & COMMUNITY SCREENINGS:
– Association for Women in Development, Istanbul, 2012
– Women’s Education Project, NYC 2015
– Women’s Day Panel Discussion at Tank Theater (off-Broadway), NYC 2015
– Yale University, CT
– The New School, NY