It's hot out and I'm feeling both lazy AND cranky and have felt that way since I got up this morning. In a sour mood, the last thing I felt like was a sparkly Rishi Kapoor in masala-fest Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin, which has been sitting and waiting for me to watch it all week. I watched about 15 minutes and knew I wasn't in the right mood to enjoy things like a belt stuffed full of diamonds and a henchman with a beard who is not Mac Mohan. So, instead, I remembered Mr. and Mrs. Iyer sitting in a pile of DVDs borrowed from dangermousie and put it in expecting nothing - just something slow moving for my slow moving brain.

Wow.

( Plot synopsis! )

Mr. and Mrs. Iyer is slow-moving, for sure, but in an enjoyable way. The film is built of little moments. The opening act that takes place on the bus was so well done. Everything unfolds in a leisurely way making sure that we familiarized ourselves with the characters so that we would care about what happened to them. The little moments of quiet when Raja would go out and take pictures were also nice. And, of course, the growing relationship between Konkona and Rahul captured in small bits - the stories they make up for themselves told to strangers and then retold to each other.

While most of what I'd read about the film before seeing it focused on Mrs. Iyer learning that Muslims are People Too (TM), which is one of the reasons I wasn't too anxious to watch as that theme has been done and done again, I was surprised at the growth in Rahul's character. We see Raja go from a bachelor who finds babies and women a bother to a man who willingly and genuinely acts as a husband and goes out of his way to care for Mrs. Iyer and her son. There is one scene in particular where ( Spoiler )

So, while Mrs. Iyer does, in fact, learn that You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover (TM), what interested me more was her love story - and no, not just because she had great chemistry with Rahul. We learn enough backstory to assume that her match with Mr. Iyer was not a love match. She finished her degree and her parents got her married and now she lives with her in-laws. She has a son, but not much love in her life. Maybe she thought love was not for people like her or that it was only something in the movies (I feel like this, too - life, please send me Rahul Bose. Thank you.) To watch her blossom with passion and love is really remarkable and I don't have to tell you that Konkona Sen Sharma has big, expressive eyes and uses them to great effect here.

( At the end, spoilers.... )



I wish I had more screencaps to share, but I was too lazy (IT'S SO HOT) to go back and take them.