Take a long hard look at the communal undercurrents running in our country these days. Distrust and acrimony based on religion is something to be ashamed of. Yet in times of crisis, we do (most of us, I’d like to believe) assist each other as good humans must.
Mrs. Meenakshi Iyer (Konkona Sen) with her 9-month-old baby boy Santhanam is traveling by bus to Calcutta. Her co-passenger, a wildlife photographer Raja (Rahul Bose) is a great help to manage an ever cranky Santhanam, prepare his feeds etc. in the cramped bus space.
Mid-way, in a forest the bus breaks down. Nearby villages are in the midst of a communal riot. Sensing trouble, a tense Raja tells Mrs Iyer that he is Muslim. A crazed Hindu mob enters the bus. As the mob comes towards them, even though deep within she is dogmatic and has issues with Caste, Muslims, Pollution, etc. she plonks Santhanam on his lap and announces, when asked to identify, that they are Mr & Mrs Iyer.
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There couldn't be fellow travelers odder than the couple Raja and Meenakshi make.
She is a traditional, orthodox Tamil Brahmin housewife with a B. Sc (in fissikks), and he a yuppie Bengali Muslim wildlife photographer.
She still clutching on to her deeply ingrained beliefs on the Caste system (pretty sad actually, despite her education), while he is more cosmopolitan.
Poles apart in their backgrounds, routines, beliefs, faiths, psyches, mental make-up, and outlook, they now need to depend on each other to get through this nightmare.
Helpless and alone, she needs him as a crutch to go through the violence around them. And his very life depends on her. How they help each other through the journey is what Mr. & Mrs. Iyer is all about.
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The scenes when the mob searches the bus are a shameful representation of what communal hatred has done to humans. Checking of foreskin, a Jew giving away an old couple as Muslims, the mob taking away the doddering old man from his hoarsely begging and pleading wife are brutal highlights of the movie.
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The bus itself represents a mini India. Besides ‘Mr’ & Mrs Iyer, the bus contains a pot pourri of people, ages, religions, languages. Hindi, Urdu, Bangla, Punjabi, English, Tamil flow freely within characters of this movie.
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From the bus, the scene shifts to a forest house, where the police offers this couple an accomodation. The sense of longing they begin to feel for each other, as the journey comes to an end, and their unspoken thoughts and feelings tugs at the heartstrings. In the end, you wish, ‘Mr’ & Mrs Iyer at least exchange numbers or emails to keep in touch later.
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Rahul Bose is an acting textbook in this movie. Subtle, almost hidden expressions flit through his face within seconds. Watch him in the scenes where he has to concoct stories for insistent teenage girls on how he met Meenakshi and detailing their honeymoon. (another highlight in the movie) This is one powerhouse of an understated performance.
Konkona Sen on the other hand has the more flamoboyant part. Very external (heavily relying on clothes, hair, make up to look convincingly Tamil) in her act and mannerisms with an endearingly immaculate Tamil accent. (''I’ll ittt u on the eddd'' - ie I’ll hit u on the head, or ''eee isss verry taarrow'' i.e He is very thorough) Hard to believe she isn’t even remotely Tamil in real life. Watch her cringe when she discovers Raja is Muslim and realizes that she has been sharing his water bottle.
Brilliant three minute cameos by Bhisham Sahni and Sureka Sikri (as the old muslim couple), an excellent replication of riot hit areas by art director Nikhilesh Dasgupta and acclaimed director-cinematographer Gautam Ghose’s masterful camerawork are the other hallmarks of the movie. Unfortunately Ustaad Zakir Hussain’s music does not do much for the movie. The one line lyric “If I’d known” is pretty haunting.
Director Aparna Sen deserves a long round of applause for making a movies with meaningful content. The movie won two awards at the Locarno Film festival and allocades for ‘‘courage in raising an issue of relevance in a work of cinematic density’’.
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Very unfortunately such cinema, that needs to be encouraged remains unseen, and only does the rounds of festivals.
Do see Mr. & Mrs. Iyer. Skip your 'Die Another Days', 'Gurus' and 'Kaantes' for this please.
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