The movie starts in picturesque Darjeeling (Bengal, India) where Meenakshi Iyer( Mrs. Iyer) is setting out with her one year old son Santanam on a bus ride to the nearest railway station and from then on a train ride to Calcutta.This is also where she meets Raja who promises her parents to see her through to Calcutta. The bus represents a unique picture of India both in terms of regions but also age groups and mindsets.On their way to the station they run into a communal riot(Hindus and Muslims) and 3 days of curfew and Raja who is a Muslim is saved by Mrs.Iyer who declared him as Mr. Iyer.
The movie addresses a whole spectrum of issues from communal violence, to caste issues and to a certain extent public apathy. Mrs Iyer is an Iyengar Brahmin , 100% vegetarian and will eat food cooked from "known sources" only. Inspite of her education, a Masters in Physics, she is first shocked by the fact that Raja is a Muslim and runs away from him until better sense prevails later!. An old Muslim couple is found in the bus and taken away by the mob and no one bothers to inquire about them and all the police say is that they are inquiring. Fellow bus passengers address Muslims as terrorists and perpetrators of violence
Rahul Bose(Raja) is at his best, I would say playing himself..the easy going wildlife photographer who prefers to deal with issues with his camera. But the find of the year is Konkona Sen(Mrs Meenakshi Iyer) who pulls through her role with such finesse that its hard to believe that its her first Hindi/English movie. She has perfected the Tamil Brahmin accent write down to the last T. She moved effortlessly between this naive, innocent sheltered wife in the first half to being more vocal and open about her affections for Raja in the latter part of the movie.
Full marks to the director of the movie for her very sensitive potrayal of the violence and this lovely caring between Raja and Meenakshi in the middle of it all.
Oh! did i say somewhere that the movie is a MUST WATCH ?
The movie addresses a whole spectrum of issues from communal violence, to caste issues and to a certain extent public apathy. Mrs Iyer is an Iyengar Brahmin , 100% vegetarian and will eat food cooked from "known sources" only. Inspite of her education, a Masters in Physics, she is first shocked by the fact that Raja is a Muslim and runs away from him until better sense prevails later!. An old Muslim couple is found in the bus and taken away by the mob and no one bothers to inquire about them and all the police say is that they are inquiring. Fellow bus passengers address Muslims as terrorists and perpetrators of violence
Rahul Bose(Raja) is at his best, I would say playing himself..the easy going wildlife photographer who prefers to deal with issues with his camera. But the find of the year is Konkona Sen(Mrs Meenakshi Iyer) who pulls through her role with such finesse that its hard to believe that its her first Hindi/English movie. She has perfected the Tamil Brahmin accent write down to the last T. She moved effortlessly between this naive, innocent sheltered wife in the first half to being more vocal and open about her affections for Raja in the latter part of the movie.
Full marks to the director of the movie for her very sensitive potrayal of the violence and this lovely caring between Raja and Meenakshi in the middle of it all.
Oh! did i say somewhere that the movie is a MUST WATCH ?