When Hari Got Married

Ritu Sarin / CinemAsia / India, UK, USA / 2012 / Documentary, Feature / 75 mins / English, Hindi with English subtitles / Color / HDCAM* / North America Premiere

How do traditions like arranged marriage get passed down in the Information Age? In Hari’s case, the event comes off with a lot of humor and some trepidation. The chatty, gregarious taxi driver is getting married to a girl he’s seen only once in their two year engagement, but whom he’s talked with almost non-stop on the phone for five months.… Show more When Hari Got Married is the latest film from veteran directing team Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Soram (Dreaming Lhasa, SFIAAFF ’06), and depicts how some customs adapt to major changes in technology.

Hari lives on the Indian side of the Himalayan foothills, and ferries tourists and Tibetans around Dharamsala. He is the youngest son, and his marriage relieves the burdens of his elderly father and the rest of his extended family, all of who live in the same town. Shy bride-to-be Suman will be a welcome addition, Hari declares, because she can work the farm and take care of her father-in-law.

When asked if the world is a better place than before, Hari’s elderly aunts exclaim “Better!” They assert that a woman can choose not to marry a disabled or an uneducated man. Even though Hari’s marriage appears tradition bound, it is also a wholly modern occurrence.

Co-presented by: When Hari Got Married

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