A fairy tale

Aparna Sen’s The Japanese Wife is a touching account of love between a schoolteacher
in the Sundarbans and a Japanese girl, says Shoma A. Chatterji

THE long wait for Aparna Sen’s much-discussed The Japanese Wife, her second film in English after 36, Chowringhee Lane, is over. The film, completed more than two years ago had its release held up for various reasons. The film will have an all-India release on April 9, giving us time to catch up on this important film. It is based on a novel by Kunal Basu, who teaches Management Sciences at Oxford.

"It is not entirely in English. There is a smattering of Bengali dialect of the kind spoken in the Sundarbans in West Bengal. We call it the dokhno dialect, dokhno derived from dakshin, meaning ‘south.’ English was chosen as the principal language to reach a wider audience as the story reaches beyond India," Sen says, adding, "You will get to hear some Japanese as well."

The Japanese Wife has an international acting cast comprising Rahul Bose, Moushumi Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Rudraneel Ghosh, Kunal Basu and Chigusa Takaku.

As an actress, Aparna Sen successfully walked the tightrope between mainstream and off-mainstream Bengali cinema for more than two decades. Her directorial debut with 36 Chowringhee Lane remains memorable. If Parama was a bold attempt at looking at the world from a woman’s point of view, Yugant explored the evolution of marriage in a post-modern setting.

Mr& Mrs Iyer is a strong statement on secularism, and 15, Park Avenue, is a moving account of the world inhabited by people we consider out of the mainstream. She is one of the most successful filmmakers to have mapped her success through courage, commitment, hard work and versatility.

The Japanese Wife is a touching account of love between Snehamoy (Rahul Bose), a humble schoolteacher in the Sundarbans and Miyagi (Chigusa Takaku), a Japanese girl. They fall in love through an exchange of letters. They get married without ever having set eyes on each other. Raima Sen is a pretty young girl, while Moushumi Chatterjee plays Snehamoy’s mashi (maternal aunt), who has brought him up like her own son. The script is focussed more on Snehamoy than on Miyagi. One day, Snehamoy gives her the shock of her life. He tells her that he is already married to a Japanese girl.

From another point of view, the film is also a tribute to the lost art of letter-writing in an ambience where the cellphone, the fax machine, the e-mail and the Blueberry have neatly replaced the personal and emotional touch that belonged to letters.

"I have worked with Rina-di as a co-actor in Kodi Diye Kinlaam. But I have never worked under her direction. I loved the script and my role within it. Sohag Sen, who conducted workshops with us, chose me for the role and also grilled me into imbibing some command over the dokhno dialect we speak in the film. I even gained some weight to fit into the role," says Moushumi Chatterjee.

Raima gives her take on her role in the film. "I play Sandhya, a young widow who has a little son and lives in the Sundarbans. She is the quiet type, silent and sad most of the time. I had to sweep the floors, wash vessels, do a lot of housework, imbibe the body language and most importantly, bond with the little boy, who played my son in the film. Sohag Sen, a famous theatre person, who runs her own theatre group, conducted the workshop. She is a very hard taskmaster. I also had to work on dokhno, which is not easy. His widowed aunt, who brought him up, wants to hitch him to this young widow but he remains adamant. The best thing about this film is that Rina-di has really liked my work."

Rahul Bose says he is playing one of the most challenging and difficult characters in his entire career in films. "I love to work in Aparna’s films. I am lucky to have been chosen in three of her films. In Mr& Mrs Iyer and 15, Park Avenue, I did urban characters`A0that were closer to the real me. In The Japanese Wife, Snehamoy is radically different. I am a rustic, simple arithmetic schoolteacher, who grows from a teenage of 17 to a mature man of 40. Snehamoy is shy, introvert, and slightly timid. He does not pay attention to the young widow Sandhya, who his mashi wants him to marry. Yet, he strikes a relationship with a girl he has never met and has known only through an exchange of letters. In my opinion, Snehamoy is an escapist. His mashi takes care of him in the Sundarbans while his wife is in distant Japan. He avoids the responsibility of a normal married life. He feels safer on this side of the river in the Sundarbans. He feels it is safer than what life across the river might hold for him. He does not even have the wish to explore and find out what lies on the other side," he elaborates.

Others in the cast are Kunal Basu himself in a brief cameo and Rudraneel Ghosh, who plays an interesting character — that of a youngster, who is obsessed with flying kites. Anway Goswami, fresh from the FTII, Pune, has done the cinematography while Gautam Bose has done the production design. Joysree Dasgupta, a noted singer, who won the National Award for her song in Sen’s Paromitaar Ek Din has designed the costumes. The scenes featuring Miyagi were shot in Japan. Others in the cast are Rudraneel Ghosh and Kunal Bose (the author). Saregama has produced the film. Let us wait and watch how this ‘modern day fairy tale’ unfolds on the large screen.

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