As a boy, I always hated going to the parties of my parents' friends. Growing up as a Chinese-American, I was accustomed to the American way of life, but often found its presence uncomfortably lacking at these gatherings. Celebrations were always held for birthdays or holidays, always in someone's big house, always crowded with noisy adults. We, the children, never paid attention to what the grown-ups were saying -- never, that is, until they started bad-mouthing their own kids. "All they do is play video games," they'd complain. "Don't your kids eat Chinese food?", one would ask. "Are you kidding? They only eat hamburgers! McDonald's!"

Though seemingly unwelcome, the atmosphere in those houses was unmistakably memorable. It featured the lovely smell of Chinese food, interior decorations one would only find in a Chinese family's house, and always a piano as well as clean, polished furniture. And yet, the latest technology could also be found lying around; these rich families could afford newfangled amplifiers, big TVs and VCRs. An interesting blend -- and, truth be told, I miss it a little. Here was a unique space where old traditions resided while new technologies crept in.

Monsoon Wedding brought me back to that place. No, it's not a Chinese movie; it's Indian, directed by Mira Nair (Mississippi Masala) with her colorful, non-Bollywood style. But it combines such a skillful blend of Eastern tradition and Western invasion (including the realistic mixture of languages, mostly equal parts English and Hindi) that I couldn't help being taken back to those big parties mentioned above. From an observational standpoint, this was nostalgic enough. Nair and screenwriter Sabrina Dhawan's story of a family gathering in New Delhi for the arranged marriage of an upper-middle-class couple's daughter feels so real, it could have been a documentary. Consider the parents as they try to preserve cultural traditions (the father defiantly and the mother joyfully) in the face of cell-phone wielding event handlers, Western-influenced kids armed with Western-influenced notions, and the constant presence of the American way of life brought in by visiting relatives. Members of the elder generation hang on to pieces of the world they were brought up in, but they can't stop the outside world from coming in – a fascinating predicament to me.

But Nair doesn't use this occasion to lament the loss of culture. Instead, she sees it as a chance to revitalize what is – and always has been -- remarkable about longstanding traditions. As the wedding preparations continue, separate forces subtly conspire to wreck the proceedings. Preferring liaisons with an ex-lover, the bride-to-be doubts if she can be with a man she's just met. The father worries he may not be able to handle costs involved in constructing a traditional and weatherproofed tent. The event-planner, who has spent his whole life devoted to his profession, suddenly faces a crisis causing him to wonder about love in his own life. And, an important dance number may have to be cancelled when one of the performers becomes disgruntled, thanks to the brutal hand of strict parenting.

Slowly and one-by-one, these forces are averted softly by the success and allure of traditional values. To say how this happens would be spoiling too much. Let’s just say that, by the end of the movie, you may be wishing you were Indian and partaking in the wonder of such a celebration of culture and love. Like Nair, I believe a developing outside world need not threaten the existence of a group’s culture – which can still thrive by incorporating the new with the old. Perhaps this explains what I didn't like about those old parties. I always felt the adults complained too much about the way their kids were behaving, all the while trumpeting the superiority of the old ways. Monsoon Wedding isn't frightened by the ways of the new generation. Instead, it offers to enhance everyone’s cultural perspective. I might not want to attend one of those old Chinese celebrations again, but I would love to join the party at the end of Monsoon Wedding. (Originally posted on www.windowtothemovies.com)

(Released by USA Films and rated "R" for language, including some sex-related dialogue.)