Mr. & Mrs. Iyer.

[rating=6]

Like it often happens, I was led to this gem of a film by accident. Neha, a young friend had come home and we were discussing matters of great import when she struggled to remember a name, which turned out to be the same as the one for a film actress. On exploring that name she mentioned Mr. & Mrs. Iyer, as having been an Indian film in English of that name, I was intrigued enough to see if I could get it on a DVD and am glad that I did.

For those of my readers who may not know it, my surname should have been Iyer and that is another reason for the interest in the film.  Why I don’t use that surname is another story for another day.

This film was released in 2002 when I was going through all kinds of personal problems and the last thing that I had in mind was movies. It was a long period of stress when I was preoccupied with other matters of much more importance and it is thus that I had missed this particular film. Had my life been normal then, I would not have missed it as this film has been directed by Aparna Sen whose earlier film in English, 36 Chowringhee Lane is a film that I will always cherish as one of the best that I have ever seen.

This film has been written and directed by Aparna Sen, whose daughter Konkona Sen plays the role of Mrs. Iyer, a difficult task, with aplomb and Rahul Bose is at his best in another  difficult role. Aparna Sen has directed them well and the rather unusual background music set to score by Zakir Hussein, effectively makes for some very interesting viewing and listening experience.

The very believable story with very identifiable characters, subtle innuendos and signals, has been given a sensitive treatment by the director and if you have not seen it, do try and see it.