The Japanese Wife
Encyclopedia
The Japanese Wife is a 2010 Indian film
directed by Bengali filmmaker
Aparna Sen
. It stars Rahul Bose
, Raima Sen
and Moushumi Chatterjee, and Japanese actress Chigusa Takaku
in the title role. It is in English
, Bengali
and Japanese
.
The film was originally scheduled for release in October 2008, but the release was delayed until 9 April 2010.
The story revolves around a young Bengali
village school teacher (Rahul Bose
) marrying his Japanese
pen friend (Chigusa Takaku
) over letters and remaining true and loyal to her throughout his life, while actually never meeting her.
) and Miyage (Chigusa Takaku
) are pen friends who exchange wedding vows through letters. Fifteen years pass but they never meet. Yet the bond of marriage is strong between them. This unusual relationship comes under a cloud when a young widow, Sandhya (Raima Sen
), comes to stay with Snehmoy along with her eight-year-old son Poltu. Snehmoy and the little boy bond and the arithmetic teacher discovers the joy of palpable bonds and fatherhood. There develops an inexplicable thread of understanding with Sandhya too.
But Snehmoy remained loyal to his unseen Japanese wife. When Miyage was ill from cancer, he took a long leave from his school and tried to find a cure for her illness. Snehamoy sets out one day during a storm to talk to the closest oncologist, but leaves upon realization that without Miyage physically being there, the doctor can do little. On the way back, the storm turns violent, with harsh wind and rain. He catches pneumonia when he returns to his house. Due to the continuing storm, no villagers are able to travel to Calcutta by boat to obtain the antibiotics required to cure his infection. He dies days later. The movie ends with a bald Miyage in a white Sari, visiting the house of her husband Snehamoy.
has made a film based on someone else's story. This movie is based on the title story of The Japanese Wife and Other Stories by Bengali Indian author Kunal Basu
, who writes from Oxford
and is an engineer by training. This film was earlier titled as The Kite, but later changed to the name of the original story title.
The shooting locations are Kolkata
and Sundarbans
in Bengal
and the Japan
ese cities of Yokohama
and Tsukuba, Ibaraki
.
's work in English, August
and Split Wide Open
and felt that he was a good, controlled and intelligent actor. In an interview Aparna states that her choice of him for three of her films in a row is because she "can deconstruct him completely and mould him differently in any which way I can. Few actors have this kind of malleability".
Aparna Sen's daughter Konkona Sen Sharma
was the first choice for the role now played by Raima Sen
. For her role, her name is not mentioned in the original short story, but Aparna Sen named her "Sandhya". Aparna told the Hindustan Times that "Raima as Sandhya shared perfect onscreen chemistry with Rahul. Both are shy and refined and suited the characters well".
For casting Chigusa Takaku
in the title role, Aparna said "We had hired an agency and chose her after auditioning 12 girls. She is a sensitive woman and an intuitive actress. Hence, she got a feel of the character quickly enough. She didn’t know any English. We had to converse with her through her translator who was always on the sets."
Nikhat Kazmi
of The Times Of India
rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, and gave it an excellent review saying that, "There is such beauty, restraint and minimalism in this akin-to-a-haiku film, it transports you into another world altogether." He praised the acting of all the lead actors, saying "Rahul Bose is in stellar form with his village boy look and his Bangla Angrezi. Raima Sen is delectable as the reticent, shy widow and Moushumi Chatterjee is a revelation." Rajeev Masand
of CNN-IBN rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and gave a good review and praised the acting and direction, saying that, "Despite its leisurely pace and its wildly implausible premise, populated with believable, flesh-and-blood characters who have real fears and anxieties that you can connect with." Anupama Chopra
of NDTV
rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and praised the acting, but criticized the pace of the film, saying "How much you enjoy Aparna Sen’s The Japanese Wife is directly proportionate to how patient you are. The film is slow to the point of being painful. And yet, if you stay with it, The Japanese Wife is a rewarding experience. It’s rich with yearning and sadness and yet hopeful, in a quiet way." Omar Qureshi of Zoom rated the film 5 out of 5 stars and called it "zoombastic".
where it was released through Netflix
, Amazon.com
and iTunes
on 13 July 2010. In the United Kingdom
, the film was shown on Channel 4
, on 25 April 2011.
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
directed by Bengali filmmaker
Bengali cinema
Bengali cinema refers to the Bengali language filmmaking industries in the Bengal region of South Asia. There are two major film-making hubs in the region: one in Kolkata, West Bengal, India and the other in Dhaka, Bangladesh .The history of cinema in Bengal dates back to the 1890s, when the first...
Aparna Sen
Aparna Sen
Aparna Sen is a critically acclaimed Bengali Indian filmmaker, script writer, and actress. She is the winner of three National Film Awards and eight international film festival awards.-Biography:...
. It stars Rahul Bose
Rahul Bose
Rahul Bose is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, social activist, and rugby union player.Bose has appeared in Hindi films such as Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Jhankaar Beats. Time magazine named him "the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema" for his work in parallel cinema films like English,...
, Raima Sen
Raima Sen
-Early life:She is the daughter of Moon Moon Sen and the granddaughter of legendary actress Suchitra Sen. Her sister, Riya Sen, is also in the Bollywood industry. Their father Bharat Dev Varma is a member of the royal family of Tripura. Her paternal grandmother, Ila Devi, was the princess of Cooch...
and Moushumi Chatterjee, and Japanese actress Chigusa Takaku
Chigusa Takaku
is a Japanese actress. She has appeared in a number of Japanese TV dramas and films.-Television:* The Great Horror Family * Taiga drama Yoshitsune * Silunu Oru Kaadhal * Hanayome wa Yakudoshi! * Mop Girl...
in the title role. It is in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
and Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
.
The film was originally scheduled for release in October 2008, but the release was delayed until 9 April 2010.
The story revolves around a young Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
village school teacher (Rahul Bose
Rahul Bose
Rahul Bose is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, social activist, and rugby union player.Bose has appeared in Hindi films such as Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Jhankaar Beats. Time magazine named him "the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema" for his work in parallel cinema films like English,...
) marrying his Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
pen friend (Chigusa Takaku
Chigusa Takaku
is a Japanese actress. She has appeared in a number of Japanese TV dramas and films.-Television:* The Great Horror Family * Taiga drama Yoshitsune * Silunu Oru Kaadhal * Hanayome wa Yakudoshi! * Mop Girl...
) over letters and remaining true and loyal to her throughout his life, while actually never meeting her.
Plot
Snehmoy Chatterjee(Rahul BoseRahul Bose
Rahul Bose is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, social activist, and rugby union player.Bose has appeared in Hindi films such as Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Jhankaar Beats. Time magazine named him "the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema" for his work in parallel cinema films like English,...
) and Miyage (Chigusa Takaku
Chigusa Takaku
is a Japanese actress. She has appeared in a number of Japanese TV dramas and films.-Television:* The Great Horror Family * Taiga drama Yoshitsune * Silunu Oru Kaadhal * Hanayome wa Yakudoshi! * Mop Girl...
) are pen friends who exchange wedding vows through letters. Fifteen years pass but they never meet. Yet the bond of marriage is strong between them. This unusual relationship comes under a cloud when a young widow, Sandhya (Raima Sen
Raima Sen
-Early life:She is the daughter of Moon Moon Sen and the granddaughter of legendary actress Suchitra Sen. Her sister, Riya Sen, is also in the Bollywood industry. Their father Bharat Dev Varma is a member of the royal family of Tripura. Her paternal grandmother, Ila Devi, was the princess of Cooch...
), comes to stay with Snehmoy along with her eight-year-old son Poltu. Snehmoy and the little boy bond and the arithmetic teacher discovers the joy of palpable bonds and fatherhood. There develops an inexplicable thread of understanding with Sandhya too.
But Snehmoy remained loyal to his unseen Japanese wife. When Miyage was ill from cancer, he took a long leave from his school and tried to find a cure for her illness. Snehamoy sets out one day during a storm to talk to the closest oncologist, but leaves upon realization that without Miyage physically being there, the doctor can do little. On the way back, the storm turns violent, with harsh wind and rain. He catches pneumonia when he returns to his house. Due to the continuing storm, no villagers are able to travel to Calcutta by boat to obtain the antibiotics required to cure his infection. He dies days later. The movie ends with a bald Miyage in a white Sari, visiting the house of her husband Snehamoy.
Cast
- Rahul BoseRahul BoseRahul Bose is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, social activist, and rugby union player.Bose has appeared in Hindi films such as Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Jhankaar Beats. Time magazine named him "the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema" for his work in parallel cinema films like English,...
as Snehamoy Chatterjee - Raima SenRaima Sen-Early life:She is the daughter of Moon Moon Sen and the granddaughter of legendary actress Suchitra Sen. Her sister, Riya Sen, is also in the Bollywood industry. Their father Bharat Dev Varma is a member of the royal family of Tripura. Her paternal grandmother, Ila Devi, was the princess of Cooch...
as Sandhya - Chigusa TakakuChigusa Takakuis a Japanese actress. She has appeared in a number of Japanese TV dramas and films.-Television:* The Great Horror Family * Taiga drama Yoshitsune * Silunu Oru Kaadhal * Hanayome wa Yakudoshi! * Mop Girl...
as Miyage - Moushumi Chatterjee as Maashi
- Rudranil GhoshRudranil GhoshRudranil Ghosh is an Indian Bengali actor of TV and films.-Awards:* 2007: BFJA - Best Supporting Actor Award for both Kantatar and Refugee* 2011: Zee Bangla'r Gourab - Best Actor in a Negative Role for Byomkesh Bakshi-Filmography:...
as Fatik - Kunal BasuKunal BasuKunal Basu is an Indian author of English fiction who has written three novels – The Opium Clerk , The Miniaturist , and Racists...
: Special appearance
Production
The production of the film started in April 2007. This is the first time Aparna SenAparna Sen
Aparna Sen is a critically acclaimed Bengali Indian filmmaker, script writer, and actress. She is the winner of three National Film Awards and eight international film festival awards.-Biography:...
has made a film based on someone else's story. This movie is based on the title story of The Japanese Wife and Other Stories by Bengali Indian author Kunal Basu
Kunal Basu
Kunal Basu is an Indian author of English fiction who has written three novels – The Opium Clerk , The Miniaturist , and Racists...
, who writes from Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and is an engineer by training. This film was earlier titled as The Kite, but later changed to the name of the original story title.
The shooting locations are Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
and Sundarbans
Sundarbans
The Sundarbans [Sundarban Tour Booking-9051115228] is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world.The name Sundarban can be literally translated as "beautiful jungle" or "beautiful forest" in the Bengali language...
in Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
and the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese cities of Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
and Tsukuba, Ibaraki
Tsukuba, Ibaraki
is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It is known as the location of the , a planned city developed in the 1960s.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 207,394 and a population density of 730 persons per km². Its total area is 284.07 km².Mount Tsukuba, particularly well-known...
.
Casting
Aparna Sen had seen Rahul BoseRahul Bose
Rahul Bose is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, social activist, and rugby union player.Bose has appeared in Hindi films such as Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Jhankaar Beats. Time magazine named him "the superstar of Indian arthouse cinema" for his work in parallel cinema films like English,...
's work in English, August
English, August
English August: An Indian Story is a novel by Indian author Upamanyu Chatterjee written in English, first published in 1988. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1994.-Plot introduction:...
and Split Wide Open
Split Wide Open
Split Wide Open is a 1999 Indian film and is Dev Benegal's second feature film after English, August. The film primarily deals with the Water conflicts in the slums of Bombay, and paedophilia, and also looks at the subversive sexuality in modern India and how the notions of morality are challenged...
and felt that he was a good, controlled and intelligent actor. In an interview Aparna states that her choice of him for three of her films in a row is because she "can deconstruct him completely and mould him differently in any which way I can. Few actors have this kind of malleability".
Aparna Sen's daughter Konkona Sen Sharma
Konkona Sen Sharma
Konkona Sen Sharma is an Indian actress. She is the daughter of actress and filmmaker Aparna Sen. Sharma appears primarily in Indian arthouse and independent films, and her achievements in the genre have established her as one of the leading actresses of contemporary parallel cinema.Making her...
was the first choice for the role now played by Raima Sen
Raima Sen
-Early life:She is the daughter of Moon Moon Sen and the granddaughter of legendary actress Suchitra Sen. Her sister, Riya Sen, is also in the Bollywood industry. Their father Bharat Dev Varma is a member of the royal family of Tripura. Her paternal grandmother, Ila Devi, was the princess of Cooch...
. For her role, her name is not mentioned in the original short story, but Aparna Sen named her "Sandhya". Aparna told the Hindustan Times that "Raima as Sandhya shared perfect onscreen chemistry with Rahul. Both are shy and refined and suited the characters well".
For casting Chigusa Takaku
Chigusa Takaku
is a Japanese actress. She has appeared in a number of Japanese TV dramas and films.-Television:* The Great Horror Family * Taiga drama Yoshitsune * Silunu Oru Kaadhal * Hanayome wa Yakudoshi! * Mop Girl...
in the title role, Aparna said "We had hired an agency and chose her after auditioning 12 girls. She is a sensitive woman and an intuitive actress. Hence, she got a feel of the character quickly enough. She didn’t know any English. We had to converse with her through her translator who was always on the sets."
Critical reception
The film received positive to very positive reviews from critics in India.Nikhat Kazmi
Nikhat Kazmi
Nikhat Kazmi is a senior correspondent and well-known film critic from India, who has been writing for The Times of India, since 1987.-Books:* If Shakespeare was a gun: a play. Writers Workshop, 1984....
of The Times Of India
The Times of India
The Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. TOI has the largest circulation among all English-language newspaper in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, and gave it an excellent review saying that, "There is such beauty, restraint and minimalism in this akin-to-a-haiku film, it transports you into another world altogether." He praised the acting of all the lead actors, saying "Rahul Bose is in stellar form with his village boy look and his Bangla Angrezi. Raima Sen is delectable as the reticent, shy widow and Moushumi Chatterjee is a revelation." Rajeev Masand
Rajeev Masand
Rajeev Masand is an Indian film critic and entertainment reporter for CNN-IBN. Masand started his career as an entertainment correspondent at the young age of 16...
of CNN-IBN rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and gave a good review and praised the acting and direction, saying that, "Despite its leisurely pace and its wildly implausible premise, populated with believable, flesh-and-blood characters who have real fears and anxieties that you can connect with." Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra is a noted author, journalist and film critic. She has written several books on Indian cinema and has been a movie reviewer with NDTV and India Today.-Career:...
of NDTV
NDTV
NDTV is an Indian commercial broadcasting television network founded in 1988. It was founded by Prannoy Roy, an eminent journalist and current chairman and director of NDTV Group. NDTV currently has more than 1,000 employees producing news from over twenty locations in India...
rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and praised the acting, but criticized the pace of the film, saying "How much you enjoy Aparna Sen’s The Japanese Wife is directly proportionate to how patient you are. The film is slow to the point of being painful. And yet, if you stay with it, The Japanese Wife is a rewarding experience. It’s rich with yearning and sadness and yet hopeful, in a quiet way." Omar Qureshi of Zoom rated the film 5 out of 5 stars and called it "zoombastic".
Box office
The Japanese Wife had a decent opening with a 44% theatre occupancy. Released on only 32 prints, the film had an 88% initial collection according to Saregama Films.Home media
In order to combat piracy, The Japanese Wife DVD was released in India only a month after the film's theatrical premiere. Despite this safeguard, the film was pirated soon after cinematic release and was sold online before the film's producers were able to file an injunction against the company. It was purchased by Databazaar Media Ventures for distribution in North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
where it was released through Netflix
Netflix
Netflix, Inc., is an American provider of on-demand internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California...
, Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
and iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
on 13 July 2010. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the film was shown on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, on 25 April 2011.
Awards
- Star Entertainment Award for Best Film
- Star Entertainment Award for Best Director, Aparna SenAparna SenAparna Sen is a critically acclaimed Bengali Indian filmmaker, script writer, and actress. She is the winner of three National Film Awards and eight international film festival awards.-Biography:...
- Star Entertainment Award for Best Cinematography, Anay GoswamyAnay GoswamyAnay Goswamy is an Indian Cinematographer. He is a graduate from the Government College of Arts, Chandigarh and the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India.-Filmography:* No One Killed Jessica * The Japanese Wife * Dil Kabaddi...
- Best Film Award at the 2010 Hidden Gems Film Festival
- Silver Crow Pheasant Award (Audience Choice) at 2010 International Film Festival of Kerala