Mr. and Mrs. Iyer

Meenakshi Iyer is traveling on a bus with her son Santanam and befriends a fellow passenger Raja, a wild-life photographer. When fundamentalists attack the bus, she claims the photographer as her husband thus saving his life. Reason: Raja is Muslim. What follows later is a compelling journey into human relationship under critical circumstances.

Rahul Bose yet again delivers fantastic performance. Bhisham Sahni and Surekha Sikri played the old Muslim couple in the bus. It was great to see Bhisham Sahni after a long sabbatical.

Finally about Konkona Sen Sharma - to be frank, I was a bit skeptical about the gifted director Aparna Sen's daughter. To me the star-kids are pampered lot and fail to rise above the talent of parents. Noteworthy performance of Konkona Sen Sharma as a orthodox Tamil Brahmin house-wife leaves you mesmerized. The finer nuances right from her accent, language, mannerism, dress, bindi has been portrayed with utmost perfection. The parallel cinema can now rest as we have an apt successor to Shabana Azmi.

A very different story devoid of the usual Bollywood masala but made with sheer conviction that makes the audience captivated into the storyline. Worth commending is the directors ability to extract the best out of the principal cast.

Undoubtedly a launch vehicle from Aparna Sen showcasing her daughters talent - and it hits the bull's eye.