The Japanese Wife

Infobox_Film
name = The Japanese Wife

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caption = Movie poster for "The Japanese Wife".
director = Aparna Sen
producer =
eproducer =
aproducer =
writer = Kunal Basu (story)
Aparna Sen (screenplay)
starring = Rahul Bose
Raima Sen
Moushumi Chatterjee
Chigusa Takaku
music = Sagar Desai
cinematography =
editing = Raviranjan Maitra
distributor =Saregama Films
released = October, 2008
runtime = 105 minutes
country = flagicon|India India
awards =
language = English,Japanese, Bengali
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id =
imdb_id =
website =http://thejapanesewife.com/

"The Japanese Wife" (2008) is the forthcoming Indian film directed by acclaimed director Aparna Sen. It stars Rahul Bose, Raima Sen and Moushumi Chatterjee, and Japanese actress Chigusa Takaku in the title role. It is in English, Bengali and Japanese. [cite web|title=Hindustan Times| work=Aparna Sen Next film|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=b56f523b-0ae7-4af7-a347-bcda9ed1643d&ParentID=c207f947-4a26-4f76-80be-cff2b5b63c06&&Headline=Aparna+Sen's+hands+are+full/|accessdate=24 March|accessyear=2007] This film is scheduled for release in October, 2008. [cite web|title=Hindustan Times| work=The Japanese wife hits theatres in October|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=694a5dbf-73fd-469c-9c49-d1141b35d7b4&&Headline=EMThe+Japanese+wife%2fEM+hits+theatres+in+October|accessdate=30 January|accessyear=2008]

The story revolves around a young village school teacher (Rahul Bose). marrying his Japanese pen friend (Chigusa Takaku) over letters and remaining true and loyal to her throughout his life, while actually never meeting her.

Synopsis

Snehmoy (Rahul Bose) and Miyage (Chigusa Takaku) are pen friends who exchange wedding vows through letters. Fifteen years pass but they never meet. Yet the bond of marriage is strong between them. This unusual relationship comes under a cloud when a young widow, Sandhya (Raima Sen), comes to stay with Snehmoy along with her eight-year-old son (Rudranil Ghosh). Snehmoy and the little boy bond and the arithmetic teacher discovers the joy of palpable bonds and fatherhood. There develops an inexplicable thread of understanding with Sandhya, too. What about the wedding vows? And will life bridge the gap between the couple or does it have other plans in store? [cite web|title=www.upperstall.com| work=Japanese Wife|url=http://www.upperstall.com/Bengali/thejapanesewife.html|accessdate=12 September|accessyear=2007]

Cast

*Rahul Bose as ... Snehamoy Chatterjee
*Raima Sen as ... Sandhya
*Chigusa Takaku as ... Miyage
*Moushumi Chatterjee as ... Maashi
*Rudranil Ghosh as ... Fatik
*Kunal Basu as ... Special Appreance

Production

The production of the film start April,2007.This is the first time Aparna Sen making a film based on someone else's story. This movie is based on the title story of "The Japanese Wife and Other Stories" by Indo-Anglian author Kunal Basu, who writes from Oxford.This film was earlier titled as The Kite, but later changed the name of original story title. [cite web|title=www.bharatstudent.com| work=The Japanese Wife launched|url=http://www.bharatstudent.com/cafebharat/news.php?id=18192&cat=6|accessdate=11 January|accessyear=2008]

The shooting locations are Kolkata, Sundarbans and Japanese cities of Yokohama and Tsukuba, Ibaraki. [cite web|title=The China Post| work=New film probes Indian-Japanese romance|url=http://www.chinapost.com.tw/art/108511.htm|accessdate=1 May|accessyear=2007]

Casting

Aparna Sen had seen Rahul Bose's work in English, August and Split Wide Open and felt that he was a good, controlled and an intelligent actor.In an interview Aparna states that her choice of him for three of films in a row is because she can deconstruct him completely and mould him differently in any which way she can. Few actors have this kind of malleability. [cite web|title=Sunday Tribune India| work=Touching account of love|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070610/spectrum/main5.htm|accessdate=10 June|accessyear=2007]

Aparna Sen's daughter Konkona Sen Sharma was the first choice for the role now playing Raima Sen. [cite web|title=Bollywood Humgama| work=Konkona opts out of her mother's film |url=http://www.indiafm.com/news/2007/03/12/9070/|accessdate=12 March|accessyear=2007] For her role , her name is not mentioned in the original short story , but later Aparna Sen named "Sondhya".Later Aparna states that "Raima as Sondhya shared perfect onscreen chemistry with Rahul. Both are shy and refined and suited the characters well". [cite web|title=Hindistan Times| work=Madhusree Chatterjee's Interview of Aparna Sen|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=694a5dbf-73fd-469c-9c49-d1141b35d7b4&&Headline=EMThe+Japanese+wife%2fEM+hits+theatres+in+October|accessdate=29 January|accessyear=2008]

For casting Chigusa Takaku as 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. [cite web|title=Hindistan Times| work=Madhusree Chatterjee's Interview of Aparna Sen|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=694a5dbf-73fd-469c-9c49-d1141b35d7b4&&Headline=EMThe+Japanese+wife%2fEM+hits+theatres+in+October|accessdate=29 January|accessyear=2008] She didn’t know any English. We had to converse with her through her translator who was always on the sets." [cite web|title=Screen India| work=Searching the Japanese Wife|url=http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=16372|accessdate=6 June|accessyear=2007]

References

External links

* [http://thejapanesewife.com/ Official Webite]
* [http://saregamafilms.com/japanese_wife/jw_trailer1.htm Trailers on Saregama Films]