Way back in 2021, during the pandemic, I watched Jeo Baby's The Great Indian Kitchen and then re-watched it again and again. Headlined by Nimisha Sajayan, the film questioned patriarchy, the invisibilisation of domestic work, gender bias and marriage as an institution as defined by men. Five years later, Arati Kadav remade the film in Hindi, with Sanya Malhotra at the forefront. And I must say that the narrative remains equally gripping and powerful.
Sanya Malhotra is superlative as Richa, as she transforms from a cheerful new bride to someone who sees marriage for its drudgery and regimental routines. She lives the role, becoming Richa, and matches Nimisha’s portrayal of the wife in the original. The kitchen’s clogged sink and the drip-drip of the pipe become metaphors for the woman's helplessness and frustration and bring her to the tipping point after which she can take no more. In an interview with THE WEEK, Arati explains what prompted her to remake the beloved film.
Why was it necessary for you to make the Hindi adaptation?
I thought that it was important because this is a story that had to be retold many times for diverse audiences and we continue to live in a time when this story holds so much relevance for each one of us. I also met a lot of women who are ten years younger than me and are going through a similar situation, and I felt that I had to take this story to Northern India and make it with a mainstream actress and make it more accessible. Also, this is a remake because I wanted to retell it. So, because I loved the original, I wanted to remake it.
In the original one, just as in your remake, the film's protagonist is a dancer. Why did you not think about giving her a different profession and also changing the family dynamics from what was present in the original?
I wanted to keep the contrast between the husband and the wife exactly the same as in the original, because that way, the underlying message came out very clearly. That the wife must command respect even if she is not in any of the so-called mainstream professions, as her husband. So he cannot have a sense of entitlement, which is usually what happens in real life as well. Even if she is a dancer, she is ambitious and full of conviction and that is what matters the most.
Tell us about your own experiences of patriarchy and how they shaped your attitude towards the female protagonist in Mrs.
I have watched both, my mother and mother-in-law being big victims of patriarchy. At times, I have also seen my mother-in-law keeping fresh food aside for the men in the family while she herself contends with consuming food from the previous night. My mother was quite educated but worked only in her later years because, in the initial years after marriage, she was fully consumed by domestic chores. I was also to be blamed in a way because I was also a part of the family that invisibilised my mother's daily household work.
The kitchen used to be a separate closed room of the house where my mother would always be working, and would never complain, whine or let us get the slightest hint that she was uncomfortable or tired. The same goes for my mother-in-law. Sadly, we tend to inherit the same mindset which is wrong. We need to start questioning it — and only hiring help will not solve the problem. It is the cultural notions that have to be broken; to associate household chores primarily with a woman needs to be questioned.
How do you relate to Sanya's character Richa?
I brought in a lot of flaws to her character, which I see in myself. For instance, I have a habit of tasting my food for salt while cooking, so a lot of lived-in experiences were brought in to ably flesh out Richa's character. Also, I wanted to send across the message that marriage is not just all mushy-mushy love all the time, especially a few years down the line, it just becomes very regimented and practical. Also, the whole dynamics of the two in terms of their profession, comes from my own life, where I am a passionate filmmaker and it felt less important in comparison to my husband's work because in my initial years, I was not able to bring in that kind of money in the house. So these kinds of dynamics have also been brought into the film through Richa's character.
Mrs has now been a part of major film festivals. Which compliment and from whom has stayed with you?
I think the response we had at the IFFI Goa Screening was amazing. I think someone said, 'This is the real Stree,' referring to Richa's character from the film. A 50-year-old woman from the festival also came up to me saying that she related to the film in many ways and I was moved by that.
You've so far made sci-fi films. This one is different.
I will get back to science fiction with my next film. God willing, I will soon narrate a very feminist story via the sci-fi genre. I am currently working on a sci-fi film with Dipa Motwane.
