December 2001. Meenakshi Iyer, a young Tamil girl, is on a bus with her infant son and an unlikely confluence of people for company-Punjabis, Tamils, Muslims and Bengalis. The group runs into an unforeseen crisis and in overcoming its predicament provides the ideal setting for actor-filmmaker Aparna Sen's latest cinematic venture. For a woman given to exploring human relationships in her films, Mr and Mrs Iyer may seem yet another foray into its varied intricacies but what sets it apart is the setting. In a world too stupefied to essay a cinematic take on September 11, Sen gives her film a context deriving from the violent events of 9/11 and the December 13 Parliament attack.

SERIOUS FUN: Sen with a child artist (left) and a dummy

So with a "shadow of terrorism looming over it", Sen sets about her task of weaving several firsts into the film which is due to be released in June this year. Though Mr and Mrs Iyer is an English language film, a corollary to the emerging trend of "Indie" movies-Indian films in English-it has a polyglot canvas which is why subtitles are now being considered.

The choice of English language- Mr and Mrs Iyer is Sen's only second English film after the 1981 National Awards contender 36, Chowringhee Lane-stems from necessity and economics. Necessity because "with so many languages, you need a common platform", and economics because Sen has her eye on a wider, overseas audience. "You constantly have to cut corners when you make films for a smaller market," says Sen. "It's good if you can reach out to more people."

"The film is certainly better timed than 36, Chowringhee Lane," agrees Rupali Mehta of Triplecom Media, the film's producers. Explains Rahul Bose a veteran of the crossover culture who plays Raja Chowdhury, a wildlife photographer, in the film: "In the mid-1990s, there were only one or two Indian films in English every year. This year, there are seven or eight. More significantly, they have been successful at the box office, niche-marketed as they are at a young, urban audience that thinks in English. There's a potential audience of 60 million out there."

So Triplecom is priming for a simultaneous release in India and abroad, with a possible round of film festivals as well. "After Shekhar Kapur and Mira Nair's publicity glossing films, there's immense global interest in Indian films," justifies Mehta. If Triplecom is on target, the producers will not only go in for the mandatory TV spots and website launches but are planning, possibly for the first time, mobile phone promos.

Another first for the film is its directorial collaboration involving two top professionals-Sen and Goutam Ghosh. As for the actors, the film features Sen's daughter Konkona Sen Sharma in the lead, an elderly Muslim couple played by Bhisham Sahni and Surekha Sikri, and Bose who pairs up with Sen Sharma. Sen has also signed on several "real people"-family and friends-to play various roles. "Many of them are amateurs, but they ended up doing a very good job," says the filmmaker.

The leads, nevertheless, had their task cut out. Sen Sharma, for instance, spent time in Chennai trying to imbibe the appearance and acquire the right accent, while Kolkata-born Bose had to brush up on his Bengali. The mix of languages may be an endearing feature but what will ultimately determine the film's success is its treatment. With Sen and Ghosh at the helm, the film, for now, appears to be in safe hands.