The Hindu Business Line : The Iyers come to town

DIRECTOR Aparna Sen wrote the story of her new film, Mr and Mrs Iyer, well before the Gujarat riots and it was therefore "eerie in its clairvoyance," says her daughter Konkana Sen Sharma, who plays the role of Mrs Iyer. Written shortly after September 2001, and set against a backdrop of Hindu-Muslim riots, it is the story of two strangers who are unexpectedly brought together by circumstances.

The film, in English, with a smattering of Tamil and Bengali, opened nationwide on December 27, with a limited run of 19 prints in the major metros, said Sundaresan Kumar, Regional Manager, Shringar Films, which is distributing the film. It might be taken wider at a later stage, and would also be taken overseas, he added.

As in the case of other niche films, the film will depend largely on the word of mouth to bring audiences in. To generate an added buzz, the two lead actors, Sen Sharma and Rahul Bose, have also made appearances at the four metros and Bangalore for the premieres.

Like most niche films, the film opened mainly in multiplexes in the metros. Besides the increasing number of English-speaking audiences who are interested in niche cinema, the multiplexes are helping increase the audience for such films, says Bose, who recently directed his first English film. "Earlier, if you didn't make 60 per cent collections every day of the first week in the theatre, you were out," he said. "Now, you can milk the entire audience slowly — it is better capacity utilisation, and you can also go into smaller towns, where you have English-speaking audiences."

The two-hour film is Sen's second English film after the highly acclaimed 36 Chowringhee Lane; the music director is Zakir Hussain, who has also sung a couple of songs.

The film has done the rounds of some film festivals, and was the official selection at the Locarno International Film Festival, and at the Regus, Pusan and Hawaii International Film festivals. It has won the NETPAC award for best Asian film, the young jury award in Locarno, and the best feature film award in Hawaii.

In India, actors and distributors are betting that the basic love story and the context will bring audiences in. While the language limits its appeal, the basic storyline has mass appeal and is relevant to any community, says Sen Sharma. "Besides, there's no hard and fast rule about mainstream and niche cinema," she adds. "Mainstream cinema does entertain, but a film like Lagaan was a mass film that also had attitude and social relevance."

As Bose points out, while the story has been told many times, it is still as relevant today as it was before. And the audiences are always ready for fare that is entertaining as well as intelligent.

"That's what great entertainment is about — keeping you entertained while conveying something," says Bose, who spent three years in Chennai as a young boy. "When they do that, films have been massive successes. That's what we should be aspiring to."

At Chennai's Sathyam multiplex, where the film is playing, the opening weekend was "good," and the management is depending on the word of mouth and the "Iyer" connection to bring audiences in.

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