The award winning film of Aparna Sen, ‘Mr. And Mrs. Iyer’, set in the backdrop of communal violence, religious fundamentalism
and love, was released in 2002 in India. The story revolves around Mrs. Meenakshi Iyer (Konkana Sen Sharma) and Mr. Jehangir alias Raja Chowdhury (Rahul Bose) as the protagonists, who are strangers but destiny brings them together, in a bus journey. The film opens in a small town, where Meena and Raja meet through a common friend at the bus depot and the latter promises to take care of Meena though the entire journey. Meenakshi is a Tamil Brahmin woman by caste who is traveling with her son, Santhanam. She belongs to an Orthodox Hindu Family. Contrary, Raja is a wildlife photographer who is a Muslim. The other passengers in the bus depict Mini-India. Suddenly the bus halts in a pro-Hindu village where the Hindus are hunting for the Muslims to avenge the village, which has been set ablaze by the latter. The avengers forcibly enter the bus and brutally kill an elderly Muslim couple, enacted by Bheesham Sahni as the Iqbal Ahmad Khan. The dentures and the spectacle case of Iqbal are seen near the riverside by Raja, who then finds a criminal reporter being born in him. Curfew is imposed in the area and soon Raja and Meena are left in the company of each other, involuntarily. Meena becomes a little fanatic towards Raja (when she realizes that she has broken the Hindu religious laws by sipping water from his bottle) but later admits her mistake, by befriending with him. Then, what can be expected from a typical Hindi movie? Nothing but love! Raja and Meena get close to each other, no sooner to come in terms with reality. The real Mr. Subramanium Iyer comes to receive Meena (his wife) and his son on the Kolkata station. An intense parting scene of Raja and Meena brings tears to the eyes.The producer of the movie is N. Venkatesan. Music was composed by Zakir Hussain, who has also sung songs in the movie that touch the soul. The emotional journey of Raja and Meena has been portrayed authentically. Light and hilarious moments relive the viewers with the slow monotony of the movie and the tensions of riots. Nature and wildlife beauty add grace to the film. The movie was honored nationally and internationally. It won 2 awards at Locarno Film Festival and was opened in New York and San Franciso on April 25th, 2003. Konkana Sen Sharma won the National Award for Best Actress in 2003. Mr. And Mrs. Iyer is a perfect example of a critically acclaimed art film with a pinch of commercial masala.