Short stories are easier to adapt into movies: Aparna Sen
29 January 2008 | Movies | No Comments
A long-distance love story between a man and a woman who have never met is difficult to interpret on screen in an age when racy Bollywood staples call the shots in popular entertainment. But going by the eight-minute sneak preview into the making of "The Japanese Wife", a bilingual movie based on author Kunal Basu's short story of the same name, filmmaker Aparna Sen of "Mr and Mrs Iyer" and "36, Chowringhee Lane" fame seems to have pulled it off quite well.
"It is an intangible love story and at one point I wanted to change the last sequence. I even told Kunal about it, but then I changed my mind and let the movie follow the book," Sen told IANS. The movie will be ready in March, says the filmmaker. "But first it will do the festival circuit and then will hit theatres in October," Sen said.
"The Japanese Wife" is a lyrical love triangle between a Bengali mathematics teacher Snehamoy Chakrabarti, who tutors students at the Shonai Secondary School in the Sundarbans (India's largest mangrove forest) and the two women in his life - his Japanese wife of 15 years, Miyage, whom Snehamoy has never met and Sondhya, a widow who was chosen as his child bride but married elsewhere.
The teacher and his Japanese wife live out their marriage in letters, thoughts, gifts and occasional telephonic conversations in broken English. Blessed by Snehamoy's aunt, Sondhya returns to live with him after being widowed with a child.
Do short stories make good cinema? "Yes, they are much easier to adapt into movies. Right from the start, I felt that Kunal's story had stunning cinematic potential. It was delicately etched like a Japanese painting," said Sen.
Rahul Bose, Raima Sen, Moushumi Chatterjee and Japanese actress Chigusa Takaku star in the movie while the author makes a cameo appearance. …
The movie begins with the ceremonial arrival of a box of Japanese kites that Miyage sends Snehamoy on their 15th wedding anniversary. The filmmaker says she enjoyed initiating Chigusa into the character. "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 said. ….read more
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