Lyrically Yours : The Japanese Wife. Review on The Japanese Wife

I have been skeptical of seeing books turned into films. I feel that they loose their fine nuances in translation. And I would have continued being so if “The Japanese Wife”wouldn’t have happened to me.

“The Japanese Wife” is based on the short story by veteran writer Kunal Basu with the same name. The story is about two simple introvert people, a man in India and a girl in Japan who connect together as pen pals and slowly grows into each other to an extent that they start living like a married individuals and how they pass through life with faith and letters without meeting each other for seventeen years.”

If this comes across to you as incomplete plot, I must tell you its not. There is nothing more to this simple story. And if this doesn’t excite you don’t be worried, as it’s not a regular Masala Flick which we watch sitting on the edge of our seats. Rather it’s a film which is no less than a piece of art which you would want to sit back and savor.

‘The Japanese Wife’(TJW) is Aparna Sen's 8rth directorial venture and it’s one among her finest work and does complete justice to the Kunals Story. Normally in an attempt to make the film more visually appealing the biggest mistake most of the director do is to fiddle around with the storyline or add in unnecessarily Masala, which is not the case with ‘TJW’. It is authenticaly served and garnished with flawless direction by Aparna.

You can buy the story only because of the characters and the actors who played it. Whether its senior actress Maushami Chaterjee in the role of Maasi or new generation actors like Rahul Bose(Playing Snehamoy) and Raima Sen(Playing Sandhya), each one of them convince you tremendously and credit goes to Aparna for the amount of work she did with each one of them.Rahul Bose has always been a surprise (read pleasantly) for the audience, but for Japanese Wife he sets in a phenomena which would be a difficult bet to follow in future cinematic perfromances by him. Raima has always been a better and safer bet than her sister Riya sen. Her silences are well formed and meaningful. Not to forget the Child Artist who plays “Poltu” in the films and bowls you with his innocent performance. Chigusa Takaku who plays the Japanese wife Miyagi, did not have much to offer except her voice throughout the film but wherever she appeared she ensures to tug your heartstrings.

Few scene which makes your heart skip a beat are: Snehamoy speaking over the phone with Miyagi; Kite competition; Sandhya and Snehamoy trip to the market; Snehamoy attempt to cure Miyagi by consulting all possible doctors. And the last scene of Miyagi coming to meet Snehamoy.

'The Japanese Wife’ gives you a feeling of walking in an art gallery, its lyrical in nature and apart from Aparna the other artists who has contribute to this form of art are, Cinematographer Anay Goswami,framing and camera movements in a rhythmic manner and the Art director Gautam Basu's utilisation of the of colors are worth an applause.Music by Sagar Desai never overpowers the story and that’s the best part about it. The whose music has a Japanese theme but the way it blends with Bengali music that it is difficult to segregate.

To sum up I would say that Aparna succeeds in providing a brilliant cinematic experience to audience, devoid of quality cinema since ages. She proves that a film doesn't always need a dramatic plot points to survive and gone are the days when Film meant a Actor solving his/her problem and audience clapping loud by the end. She reminds you of legendary Mr. Ray movies which mostly dealt with unspoken bond and relationships. It’s a lesson to all the directors who adapt books into screenplay and mess it up completely. Aparna has proved yet again that“Filmmakers are Artists, not just Craftsmen”

P.S: A must watch to enhance your taste buds for good and new cinema and to get over the stale phrase "drama nahi tha"