The Japanese Wife

Remember the time, when you are just into your teens and you fall in love with that someone special. The only thing that is important at that time is the bonding that you feel for him or her. You have a connection and you know that it is special. The love is innocent and the trust complete.

That is what you are left with when you watch the movie 'The Japanese Wife'.

I had heard about this movie, in one of the multiple film forums I am a part of - something about the title of the movie and the cast ( it has Rahul Bose in it ) and the director ( directed by Aparna Sen ) , had made me curious enough to want to watch it-even though at that time, I had no idea about the story of this movie. Over the weekend, I spotted this movie in a popular CD store, and I instantly bought it.

The movie did not disappoint me at all !

The story is about how a young bengali guy, falls in love with his Japanese pen friend. Both of them are shy by nature, and find writing to an unknown friend ( even as they struggle to write-since English is not either’s first language), as an easy means of expressing themselves. Their love blossoms through the letters they write to each other and they even get married on letters...! :)

They grow together in the long-long time that they are in touch with each other - all this while never having set their eyes on each other. For the 18 years that they bond through letters( they are married for 17 odd years out of these 18 years ), they remain faithful to each other and are each other's soul mates.

The beauty of this movie has to be the innocence of love between the two of them. Its almost divine to watch the care and devotion of Rahul Bose as a husband, and Chigusa Takaku( a Japanese actor ) as a wife as they support each other through health and sickness. The acting of Rahul Bose, Chigusa Takaku is subdued and subtle, the cinematography beautiful and the story line manages to take you back to the time you had your first crush.

The punch line below the title ‘The Japanese Wife’ on the CD of this movie says ‘637 letters, 4 phone calls, 17 years of marriage, but they have not yet met. How far will you go for love?’ Nothing could summarize this movie better !

All in all this movie is a must watch!