The Japanese Wife

Snehamoy, a shy village arithmetic teacher in India, begins a correspondence in English with a young woman from Japan named Miyage. Over the years the letters become the centre of his life; she sends small gifts, and when a ring arrives, the two regard themselves as married, though they never meet. Fifteen years pass with the marriage intact but unconsummated. The arrangement is unsettled when a young widow, Sandhya, moves in with Snehamoy and her eight-year-old son, Poltu. Snehamoy grows close to the boy and finds in him the experience of fatherhood, and an unspoken understanding develops with Sandhya, even as he keeps faith with the wife he has never seen.

Aparna Sen directed and wrote the screenplay, and the film stars Rahul Bose as Snehamoy, Chigusa Takaku as Miyage, Raima Sen as Sandhya and Moushumi Chatterjee as Maashi. Released in April 2010 and running 105 minutes, it is a drama with romance, an Indian and Japanese co-production from Saregama Films.

On IMDb the film holds 7.6 from about 2,700 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.6 from 23 votes, a much smaller sample.