''The Japanese Wife'' is a 2010 Indian-Japanese

romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

film directed by Bengali filmmaker

Aparna Sen Aparna Sen (, ''Ôporna Shen'') is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actress who is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She has received several accolades as an actress and filmmaker, including nine National Film Awards, five F ...

. It stars

Rahul Bose Rahul Bose (born 27 July 1967) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, and social activist. Bose has appeared in Bengali films such as ''Mr. and Mrs. Iyer'', '' Kalpurush'', ''Anuranan'', ''Antaheen'', ''Laptop'' and ''The Japanese Wife''. ...

Raima Sen Raima Sen (born Raima Dev Varma on 7 November 1979) is an Indian actress who is known for her work in the Hindi and Bengali films. Early life Raima Sen was born on 7 November 1979 in Bombay (now Mumbai) to Moon Moon Sen and Bharat Dev Varma ...

and

Moushumi Chatterjee Moushumi Chatterjee (born Indira Chattopadhyay) is an Indian actress who is recognised for her work in Hindi as well as Bengali cinema. She was one of the highest paid actresses in Hindi films during the 1970s. She joined the Bharatiya Janata ...

, and Japanese actress Chigusa Takaku in the title role. It is in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. 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

village school teacher (

) marrying his

pen friend ( Chigusa Takaku) over letters and remaining true and loyal to her throughout his life, while actually never meeting her.

Plot

Snehamoy Chatterjee (

) and Miyage ( Chigusa Takaku) are pen pal friends who develop a deep and emotional relationship. Eventually, the pair exchange wedding vows through letters. Seventeen years pass but they never meet, yet the bond of marriage is strong between them. This unusual relationship is tested when a young widow, Sandhya (

), 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. He also develops an inexplicable thread of understanding with Sandhya too. Despite this Snehmoy remains loyal to his unseen Japanese wife. When Miyage is diagnosed with cancer and falls ill, Snehmoy takes a long leave of absence from his school and tries to find a cure for her illness. Snehmoy sets out one day during a storm to talk to the closest oncologist in Calcutta, but leaves upon realization that without Miyage physically being there, the doctor can do little. The storm turns violent, with harsh wind and rain. Snehmoy stops to call Miyage, and the exposure to the cold causes him to catch pneumonia when he returns to his house. Due to the continuing storm, no villagers are able to travel to Gosaba by boat to obtain the antibiotics required to cure his infection, and he dies some days later. After the sea calms down, Miyage, who is dressed in a white sari and has a shaved head (a tradition of Hindu widows) visits the house of her late husband. Sandhya welcomes her.

Cast

as Snehamoy Chatterjee *

as Sandhya * Chigusa Takaku as Miyage *

as Maashi *

Rudranil Ghosh Rudranil Ghosh is an Indian actor who works primarily in Bengali films. Education Rudranil Ghosh completed his early education at Santragachi Kedarnath Institution, Howrah under West Bengal State Board. He graduated from the Narasinha Dutt Col ...

as Fatik *

Kunal Basu ''Kunal Basu'' ('' Bengali:'' কুনাল বসু) is an Indian author of English fiction who has written five novels – ''The Opium Clerk'' (2001), ''The Miniaturist'' (2003), '' Racists'' (2006), ''The Yellow Emperor's Cure'' (2011) '' ...

: Special appearance

Production

The production of the film started in April 2007. This is the first time

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

, who writes from

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

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 (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

and

Sundarbans Sundarbans (pronounced ) is a mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of the Padma, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans the area from the Baleswar River in Bangladesh's division of Khulna to the Hooghly R ...

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

and the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese cities of

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

and

Tsukuba, Ibaraki is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 244,528 in 108,669 households and a population density of 862 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 20.3%. The total ar ...

Casting

Aparna Sen had seen

's work in ''

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. The novel portrays the struggle of a civil servant who is po ...

'' and ''

Split Wide Open ''Split Wide Open'' is a 1999 Indian film directed by Dev Benegal. It is his second feature film after '' English, August'' (1994). The film primarily deals with the Water conflicts in the slums of Bombay, and paedophilia, and also looks at the s ...

'' 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 (born 3 December 1979) is an Indian actress and filmmaker who works primarily in Hindi and Bengali films. She has received two National Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards. The daughter of filmmakeractress Aparna Sen, Sen ...

was the first choice for the role now played by

. 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."

Reception

Critical reception

The film received positive to very positive reviews from critics in India.

Nikhat Kazmi Nikhat Kazmi ( hi, निखत काजमी; 1958/59 – 20 January 2012) was a senior correspondent and well-known film critic from, born Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, who had been writing for ''The Times of India'' since 1987. She died of breast ...

of ''

The Times Of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' 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." She 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 is an Indian film critic and journalist. He has worked for Noida based English language news channel CNN-Indian Broadcasting Network (CNN-IBN). He usually reviews Bollywood films and major Hollywood films released in India in hi ...

of ''

CNN-IBN CNN-News18 (originally CNN-IBN) is an Indian English-language news television channel founded by Raghav Bahl based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is currently co-owned by Network18 Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN provides internationa ...

'' 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 () is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written sev ...

of ''

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...

'' 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 Zoom may refer to: Technology Computing * Zoom (software), videoconferencing application * Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display * Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...

'' 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 America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

where it was released through

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

and

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

on 13 July 2010. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, the film was shown on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

, on 25 April 2011.

Awards

*Star Entertainment Award for Best Film *Star Entertainment Award for Best Director,

*Star Entertainment Award for Best Cinematography,

Anay Goswamy Anay Goswamy (born 16 August 1977) is an Indian Cinematographer. He is a graduate from the Government College of Arts, Chandigarh and Film and Television Institute of India. Filmography Awards and nominations * Won Star Entertainment Awar ...

*Best Film Award at the 2010 Hidden Gems Film Festival *Silver Crow Pheasant Award (Audience Choice) at 2010

International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

References

External links

*
The Japanese Wife
at ReviewGang {{DEFAULTSORT:Japanese Wife 2010 films 2010 romantic drama films English-language Indian films Indian romantic drama films Bengali-language Indian films 2010s Japanese-language films Films set in Kolkata Films based on short fiction Films about interracial romance Films shot in Japan Films shot in India Films directed by Aparna Sen 2010s Bengali-language films Japan in non-Japanese culture