A must watch movie: Mr and Mrs Iyer

In writer-director Aparna Sen's award winning film "Mr. and Mrs. Iyer", a Muslim man and a Brahmin woman get to know each other on a fateful cross-country bus trip to Calcutta. Introduced my mutual friends, photographer Raja Chowdhary (Rahul Bose) promises to look after Meenakshi Iyer (Konkona Sensharma) and her infant son. Filled with singing teenagers, doddering old people, card-playing drunkards, freshly-married love birds and a crying baby, the bus suggests a mini-India. Just when noise and claustrophobia threaten to overwhelm the film, the ship-of-fools scenario is tipped by unforeseen violence: extremist Hindus are on a rampage looking for Muslim blood to avenge the burning of a village. There's a curfew, and the bus can't go on. "Mr. and Mrs. Iyer" isn't your regular Bollywood fare--there is humor but no songs, and the seriousness of the subject matter always intrudes. In one of the film's most haunting scenes, Raja finds the dentures of an old man who had been dragged from the bus in a riverbed where others brush their teeth. Violence erupts occasionally but stays on the edges of the picture, with references to hotspots like Northern Ireland and Israel-Palestine to drive its point home. But the menace can't obstruct the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Iyer is, at heart, a love story. The backdrop of strife and unrest allows the guarded affection between Raja and Meenakshi to grow. (The raffish good looks of leading man Rahul Bose, the traditional beauty of Konokon Sensharma, and the lush exotic countryside also don't hurt.) As their journey progresses, the two grow closer and closer, but nothing can change the fact that Mrs. Iyer's real husband is waiting for her at the end of the line. Shorter than the three hour song-and-dance marathons Indian cinema is known for, "Mr and Mrs. Iyer" is still not without its long patches and at times, the filmmaking lacks sophistication. But given that we live in an age of hyper-glossy American product, a few rough edges are not necessarily a bad thing. "Mr. and Mrs. Iyers" convinces as a vibrant and pleasing portrait of thinking globally and suffering heartbreak locally. Its political perspective doesn't penetrate any deeper than "why can't we all get along?" but perhaps that simple question is worth repeating ever so often. Review courtesy IMDB ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On a seemingly calm journey to Calcutta, a bus carries Meenakshi Iyer (Konkona Sensharma), a conservative, Tamilian Brahmin and her five-month-old son, Santhanam. Accompanying her is Raja Chaudhary (Rahul Bose), a wildlife photographer who has agreed to assist Mrs. Iyer through her journey. The bus also carries a diverse group of passengers ranging from an annoying, noisy bunch of youngsters, a quiet, old Muslim couple, and two Sikh men among many others. A seemingly peaceful collage of the multiple faces of India, these passengers would have never expected the savagery that was about to let loose. Writer-director Aparna Sen takes her time to introduce her characters through a slow and detailed exposition. Once the passengers are settled into their journey, the peace lasts for all but a couple of minutes. The bus comes to a standstill. A curfew is enforced as communal riots ensue. The locks of the bus door are no use against a frightening and disturbing raid by religious extremists. In these turn of events, fear fosters intolerance among some passengers while Meenakshi´s necessity for help drives her to bury her own unsubstantiated hatred. Master filmmaker Mani Ratnam´s "Bombay" is aruguably one of the finest explorations of human intolerance mounted on screen. While thematically similar, "Mr. and Mrs. Iyer" is "Bombay´s" polar opposite in terms of storytelling. While "Bombay" was an extravagant, epic-scale portrayal of communal hatred, Sen´s film is a simple, microscopic view that is equally chilling and effective. If Ratnam showed the butchering of innocent people, Sen decides not to. Instead she keeps the camera among the "safe" people, and like her characters, allows her audience to imagine the futile brutality that takes place. However, "Mr. and Mrs. Iyer" is a love story at heart - a restrained, subtle love story where the attraction between the lovers stems not from physical qualities as much as from an understanding for each other´s point of view. Sen imbeds immense affection in her lead characters. Like a mother defining right and wrong to her child, Sen guides her characters to bring them to a comfortable level of human understanding. The contribution of the performers in achieving this result is not be overlooked.Konkona Sensharma´s research and preparation for her role is highly evident. Her diction, her accent, and her mannerisms in portraying a Tamil Brahmin woman are no less than perfect. Her command over the Tamil language is also highly commendable. Meenakshi´s foil, Raja Chaudhary, is consistently played with a sense of buried anger by Rahul Bose. Unlike Sensharma, Bose does his talking through his eyes. The interplay of these conflicting personalities and performance styles results in an impeccable on-screen chemistry. Aparna Sen´s direction is well rounded and her intent clear - to keep it simple and maintain focus on the crux of the story. This is highly evident through Goutam Ghose´s cinematography which is kept raw and simple. There are no fancy camera moves or opulent lighting schemes to distract the style of storytelling. Beautiful songs composed and sung by Zakir Hussain compliment his thrilling score to exaggerate the emotions Sen plays with. The nature of these emotions is often questioned. Are we to sit back and accept them as human or are we to try to change the way people think? These are the questions that foster the seemingly innocent conflicts between Meenakshi and Raja that make this film such a pleasure to watch. Human intolerance in India is a quality often associated with the uneducated or the illiterate. Religious violence is repeatedly branded as the result of politicians using the illiterate to strengthen their own power. "Mr. and Mrs. Iyer" asserts that the problem resides far beyond the aforementioned demographic. That baseless intolerance is also very much a part of the personality of the educated is an ignored fact that stares us in the eye everyday. Aparna Sen´s target audience is clearly an educated, urban one. Through "Mr. and Mrs. Iyer" she sticks a mirror up to their faces and asks them one question - Why? Review courtesy Planet Bollywood. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Youtube link for the movie: