Mr. And Mrs. Iyer

A variation on BRIEF ENCOUNTER in which the larger social forces keeping two potential lovers apart include religious extremism and mob violence, filmmaker Aparna Sen's timely drama benefits greatly from lovely performances by Rahul Bose and Konkona Sensharma, the director's daughter. The movie begins as circumstances force sheltered, upper-caste Hindu wife and mother Meenakshi Iyer (Sehsharma) — Meena to her friends — to end a visit with her parents in the mountains by returning home to Calcutta alone. The trip begins with a long bus ride followed by a transfer to a train, and Meena is juggling her baby, Santhanam, and all his baby supplies. At the bus sto...