Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Aparna Sen

Writers:

Dulal Dey (story)
Aparna Sen (story)

Release Date:

19 July 2002 (India)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Meenakshi Iyer comes from a devout Hindu Brahmin family, purely vegetarian, who not only abstain from meat...

Plot Keywords:

Muslim | Police | Photographer | Brahmin | Vegetarian

Awards:

9 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Rahul Bose	...	Raja
Konkona Sen Sharma	...	Mrs. Meenakshi S. Iyer (as Konkona Sensharma)
Bhisham Sahni	...	Iqbal Ahmed Khan (as Bhisham Sahani)
Surekha Sikri	...	Najma Ahmed Khan
Sunil Mukherjee
Anjan Dutt
Esha Chauhan
Kalyan Ray	...	Voice overs
P.P. Bajaj	...	Voice overs
Rahul Mulani	...	Voice overs
Shernaz Patel	...	Voice overs
Theron D'Souza	...	Voice overs
Mona Ghosh Shetty	...	Voice overs
Vijaya Subramanium	...	Meenakshi's Mother
A.V. Iyenger	...	Meenakshi's Father

Runtime:

120 min | Switzerland:123 min (Locarno Film Festival)

Country:

India

Language:

English | Tamil | Bengali | Hindi | Punjabi | Urdu

Color:

Color

Certification:

Germany:12 (DVD) | UK:15

Company:

Triplecom Media Production

Trivia:

Uday Bhawalkar provided the vocals for the theme track of this movie. The theme is based on an ancient form of Indian classical music called "Dhrupad", rarely heard in movies.

Movie Connections:

References Dil Kya Kare (1999)

Soundtrack:

Theme music of Mr. and Mrs. Iyer

...a thought provoking and insightful film.

Mr. and Mrs. Iyer deals with many prevalent issues existing with in India today. It is a social commentary on the class system, religious warfare and gender inequalities. The film is shot beautifully, juxtapopposing the beauty of nature against the 'uncivilised' capacity that us humans have to bestow on one another. The script is written thoughtfully setting up charged dynamics between the main characters Raja and Meenakshi.

Konkona Sen Sharma's performance is delightful with her authentic accent and mannerism of a South Indian. Rahul Bhose performance is sensual and heartfelt, portraying depth and breadth.

The wonderful thing about this film is that although it focuses on a particular situation, it illustrates issues that exist worldwide, in all walks of life, simply manifesting themselves in different situations. Meenakshi faces constrictions throughout life due to her gender, she is constricted and faces the 'glass ceiling'. She longs to be free and to live life freely as Raj does. Raj is free is every sense of the word, physically he is free to roam the world. He is also free from the psychological limitations from which Meenakshi suffers, that of class and caste bound prejudice. The religious warfare shown is a very current issue, with fundamentalism at its most notorious in years.

Definitely worth seeing. 8/10.