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Mr. and Mrs. Iyer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mr. and Mrs. Iyer | |
|---|---|
 Promotional movie poster for the film |
|
| Directed by | Aparna Sen |
| Produced by | N. Venkatesan Rupali Mehta |
| Written by | Aparna Sen Dulal Dey |
| Starring | Rahul Bose Konkona Sen Sharma Bhisham Sahni Surekha Sikri Sunil Mukherjee Anjan Dutta Esha Chauhan Vijaya Subramanium A. V. Iyenger Niharika Seth |
| Music by | Zakir Hussain |
| Cinematography | Goutam Ghose |
| Editing by | Raviranjan Maitra |
| Distributed by |  Madman Entertainment Tips Exports Krause & Schneider Multimedia[1] |
| Release date(s) |  July 19, 2002 |
| Running time | 120 mins |
| Country | India, USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Rs. 2.5 crores (25 million INR)[2] |
| IMDb profile | |
Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002) is an award-winning Indian film drama directed by Aparna Sen, starring her daughter Konkona Sen Sharma and Rahul Bose. The film is in English.
The story revolves around the relationship between Meenakshi Iyer (Konkona Sen Sharma) and Raja (Rahul Bose). Meenakshi is a Tamil Iyer traveling with her son Santhanam, and Raja is a Muslim wildlife photographer. The story revolves around these two lead characters during a bus journey amidst Hindu/Muslim riots in India.
The film premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland. It ran for 3 minutes longer than its runtime of 120 minutes at the festival. The film opened to the Indian audiences on July 19, 2002. It met with widespread critical acclaim upon release, and won several awards nationally and internationally.
Contents |
The film begins with an audio-visual collage of news reports of wars in the contemporary world. News from all major incidents from the September 11, 2001 attacks, murder of Daniel Pearl, Iraq War to the 2002 Gujarat violence and terrorism in India flashes across the screen. This is followed by a saying,
| “ | for what shall i wield a dagger, o lord?
what can i pluck it out of or plunge it into when you are all the world? |
” |
|
— 10th century Indian poet and saint, Devera Dasimayya |
||
The Iyer parents get ready to drop Meenakshi Iyer (Konkona Sen Sharma) at the bus station. Meenakshi and Raja Chowdhury (Rahul Bose) get introduced to each other through a common friend just before they embark upon their journey. Raja, a wildlife photographer, is requested by Meenakshi's parents to look after their daughter and baby grandson, Santhanam. The varied passengers include boisterous and highly enthusiastic teenagers, a couple of Sikh gentlemen, an elderly Muslim couple, a grouchy woman, a young couple high on romance, a retarded boy and his mother and some card-playing men. While the bus negotiates the hilly terrain, Meenakshi is forced to interact with Raja in order to pacify the restive baby. The other passengers assume that they are a couple. The bus faces a roadblock and the bus driver attempts another route by a river. When they are stopped by a queue of paused vehicles, rumors of some accident ahead spread among the passengers. When the rumors stop, it becomes evident that Hindu mobs are rampaging against Muslims after a Hindu village was burned down.
The situation turns serious when police arrive and announce to all those stranded that curfew has been imposed and all of them are ordered back to their vehicles. Here is where Raja reveals his Muslim identity to Meenakshi. As someone who comes from a high caste and a conservative Brahmin family, she shudders at the very fact that she drank water from a Muslim. "Please. Don't touch me" is her shocked reply. After the police exit to scout other areas, one such Hindu mob arrives and enters the bus. They begins interrogating passengers about their identities and when in doubt of a passenger's religious identity, they even check for his circumcision. In self-protection, a Jew points at the old Muslim couple to deviate the mob's attention from him. The mob's leader drags the old man and his wife out of the bus. When one teenager resists this, she is thrashed by the leader. When Raja attempts to rise in revolt, she plants Santhanam on his lap ordering him to hold him with an intent to shield his identity. When asked about their identities, she tells the leader that Raja and she are Mr. and Mrs. Iyer. After this chilly encounter, the passengers sleep through the night in the bus itself.
In the morning, the passengers trek to the nearby village to seek accommodation. When Mr. and Mrs. Iyer fail to get any, a police officer bails them out by providing shelter at an abandoned forest bungalow. While they stay at this bungalow, they discover each other's beliefs and understanding of religion. Though young and well-educated, they differ in their opinions. While Meenakshi curses herself for coming along with a stranger, Raja allows her the comfort of the only bedroom and prefers to sleep outside. The next morning when Meenakshi does not find Raja, she gets worried and angry as to why he left them in such a place. She feels highly relieved when she finds him sleeping outside. While they head to a restaurant in the village, they meet the police officer who volunteers to help them transport them to the city the next morning. That night when they both see a horrific murder by one of the mobs, a shocked Meenakshi is comforted by Raja. Once in the city, they board the train to their destination. An unspoken love and a strong attraction is evident between them keeping behind all their differences. After reaching their destination and the real Mr. Iyer is introduced, Raja and Meenakshi bade an emotional farewell to each other.
| Actor | Character | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Konkona Sen Sharma | Mrs. Meenakshi S. Iyer | A staunch Tamil Iyer traveling with her year old son Santhanam in the bus on her way to meet her husband Subrahmanian Iyer. She meets a fellow-traveler, Raja, and gets drawn to him due to the surrounding circumstances. |
| Rahul Bose | Raja (Jehangir Chawdhury) | A liberal Muslim by faith, he is a wildlife photographer by profession. He gets an protective identity of Mr. Subrahmanian Iyer by Meenakshi during the communal riots. |
| Bhisham Sahni | Iqbal Ahmed Khan | An elderly and a conservative Muslim traveling along with his wife Najma in the bus. He happens to be one of the victims of the communal riots. |
| Surekha Sikri | Najma Ahmed Khan | A dutiful and loving wife of Iqbal, Najma perishes in the riots when she comes in defense of her husband. |
| Anjan Dutt | Cohen | A Jew since birth, he is responsible for giving away the old Muslim couple to the rioters and thereafter is petrified by the fact that he could also have been mistakenly killed by them. |
| Bharat Kaul | Rajesh Arora, Police Officer | Officer responsible for controlling and maintaining the law and order in the riot-stricken area. He gets acquainted with the bus passengers and helps the Iyer 'couple' to a place to stay during the curfew. |
| Khushbu, Mala, Sonali, Amrita | Niharika Seth, Riddhi Basu, Richa Vyas, Eden Das | A highly enthusiastic and young group of friends playing the one set of the supporting cast. |
Prior to Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, Aparna Sen's first English film, 36 Chowringhee Lane was 20 years ago. When Aparna Sen began writing the script, she wanted it to take the form of a love story. However, she could clearly establish the circumstances surrounding her story only in the aftermath of 9/11 and the 2002 Gujarat riots.[3] In an interview, Aparna stated that the omnipresent, circumstantial violence in the film was only to serve as a backdrop for her script which aimed to show how the relationship evolves between two people who are forced to be together.[4] In the same interview, she stated that the film was set at some time after the attacks on the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001.
The story began to take shape from July 2001 and the shooting began by December, the same year.[5] During the screening of this film at the Locarno Film Festival, Aparna said that Konkana had come up with the name of the movie.[6] In another interview, Aparna spoke about how the screenplay evolved from a short story of a woman traveling along with a baby and a man she meets. On another day, she said her assistant informed her of a news about a bus-full of passengers stuck in a curfew imposed region. Both of these gave her the essentials for the setting of the film.[7] She mentioned that Konkana Sen Sharma, her daughter was deeply involved into the research that went into the film making. About the cinematographer Gautam Ghose, Aparna Sen said that they both were good friends and after their correspondence regarding his role, he got into the act.[8]
Aparna Sen had seen Rahul Bose's work in English, August and Split Wide Open and felt that he was a good, controlled and an intelligent actor. After a costume and a makeup test, he was chosen for the character of Raja Chawdhury.[4] He was one of her first choices for the lead role.[7] Working with Bose was a wonderful experience for Aparna fulfilling her expectations well.[5]
Konkona Sen Sharma's abilities as a sensitive actress fetched her the role of Mrs. Meenakshi Iyer.[4] Konkona's interest in Indian films made in English and her inhibitions of doing the usual commercial song-and-dance movies made her choice of working in this film easier.[9]
Aparna chose non-Muslim actors for the roles played by the Muslim couple in the film. Bhisham Sahni, a Hindi writer and Surekha Sikri played these roles.[10]
Aparna Sen had to make sure that the characters spoke in English with their regional accent.[4] In fact, Konkona admitted in an interview that playing the role of a Tamil Brahmin did not come easy. She confessed that her mother, Aparna Sen forced her to visit Chennai for two weeks to research her character.[9] She also said that she learned many characteristics, nuances and mannerisms native to Tamilian housewives. About her nearly impeccable Tamil (interspersed at times in the film), she said that she taped the voices and wrote them down phonetically to get it correct.[7]
Aparna chose to keep the geographical setting unstated in the film because she felt that it was a journey that could take place anywhere.[4] However, the filming was done in the Himalayan foothills of northern West Bengal.[8]
Ustad Zakir Hussain composed music for the film. For the first time in mainstream cinema, he sung for one part of a song. He said this in an interview and also added that it was only after the track was recorded, the producers decided to go for Hussain's voice.[11]
The DVD has subtitle options in English, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil and Urdu. It is available in 16:9 Anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, progressive 24 FPS, widescreen and NTSC format.[12][13]
The soundtrack composed and written by Ustad Zakir Hussain consists of 6 songs.[14]
- Kithe Meher Ali (Remix) sung by Ustad Zakir Hussain and Ustad Sultan Khan.
- Don't Look Away sung by Samantha featuring Ustad Sultan Khan (on Alap)
- Theme music of Mr. and Mrs. Iyer sung by Pandit Uday Bhavalkar (on Alap)
- Don't Look Away sung by Samantha featuring Ustad Sultan Khan (on Alap)
- Kithe Meher Ali sung by Ustad Zakir Hussain and Ustad Sultan Khan
- If I'd known... sung by Ustad Zakir Hussain and Samantha
The film has been nominated for and won the following awards since its release:
2002 Locarno International Film Festival (Switzerland)
- Won - Netpac Award - Aparna Sen
- 2nd Place - Youth Jury Award - Aparna Sen
- Nominated - Golden Leopard - Mr. and Mrs. Iyer - Aparna Sen
2002 Hawaii International Film Festival (USA)
- Won - Best Feature Film - Mr. and Mrs. Iyer - Aparna Sen
2003 Philadelphia Film Festival (USA)
- Won - Audience Award - Best Feature Film - Mr. and Mrs. Iyer - Aparna Sen
2003 National Film Awards (India)
- Won - Golden Lotus Award - Best Director - Aparna Sen
- Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Actress - Konkona Sen Sharma
- Won - Silver Lotus Award - Best Screenplay - Aparna Sen
- Won - Nargis Dutt Award - Best Feature Film on National Integration - Mr. and Mrs. Iyer - Aparna Sen, N. Venkatesan
2003 Cinemanila International Film Festival (Philippines)
- Won - Best Screenplay - Aparna Sen
- ^ "Company credits for Mr. and Mrs. Iyer". Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ Sinha, Meenakshi. "Small budget films shine at the box office". Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ Rajan, Sara. "The Toughest Topic". Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ a b c d e Nandwani, Deepali. "Aparna Sen makes a statement again". Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ a b Thandi, Preeti. "Writer & Director Aparna Sen". Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ Ramnarayan, Gowri. "Sensitive to issues". Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ a b c Shekhar, Mayank. "Mrs and Ms Sen". Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ a b "Movie interview: Aparna Sen". Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ a b Jha, Subhash K. "To the camera born", Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ Jha, Subhash K. "Cruelly disturbing, fascinatingly lyrical", Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ Dias, Nydia. "Zakir Hussain sings for Mr and Mrs Iyer", Times of India. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ "Eros Entertainment: Mr. and Mrs. Iyer". Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ "Amazon.com: Mr. and Mrs. Iyer". Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
- ^ "Soundtracks for Mr. and Mrs. Iyer". Retrieved on 2007-12-08.