Producer: N Venkatesan
Director: Aparna Sen
Cast: Rahul Bose, Konkona Sen, Bhisham Sahni, Surekha Sikri, Sunil Mukherjee
Music: Zakir Hussain

Director Aparna Sen weaves a simple film, giving a microscopic view of a gripping crisis in the life of human being that is equally chilling and effective. She deals with the sensitive story without banking more on violence. Rather through her depiction of the intriguing tale she gives a glimpse of her characters and situations allowing audience to imagine the futile brutality that takes place.

Meenakshi Iyer (Konkona Sensharma) is a conservative, Tamilian Brahmin. She alongwith her five-month-old son Santhanam are on route to Calcutta by bus. Apparently it’s a calm and quite journey for them. Sitting beside her is Raja Chaudhary (Rahul Bose), a wildlife photographer. Along with them there are diverse group of passengers. Some are annoying, some calm, a bunch of youngsters enjoying themselves, an old Muslim couple, and two Sikh men among the others. But they never expected the savagery that lets loose in the journey and they get stranded in the mayhem of violence. Raja seeing the helplessness of Mrs. Iyer agrees to help her. Where do their lives take them, find out in this engaging and engrossing tale directed by Aparna Sen.

However, ‘Mr. and Mrs. Iyer’ is a restrained, subtle love story at heart - where the attraction between the lovers stems not from physical qualities as much as from an understanding for each other’s point of view. Sen imbeds immense affection in her lead characters. She guides her characters to bring them to a comfortable level of human understanding. The contribution of the performers in achieving this result is not being overlooked. Aparna Sen´s direction is well rounded and her intent clear - to keep it simple and maintain focus on the crux of the story. Goutam Ghose’s cinematography is raw and simple emphasizing more on the impact. Beautiful songs composed and sung by Zakir Hussain compliment his thrilling score to exaggerate the emotions Sen plays with.

Konkona Sensharma’s research and preparation for her role is highly evident. Her diction, her accent, and her mannerisms in portraying a Tamil Brahmin woman are no less than perfect. Her command over the Tamil language is also highly commendable. Unlike Sensharma, Rahul Bose does his talking through his eyes. The interplay of these conflicting personalities and performance styles results in an impeccable on-screen chemistry.

Aparna Sen´s target audience is clearly an educated, urban one. Through ‘Mr. and Mrs. Iyer’ she sticks a mirror up to their faces.