A Hindi adaptation of the acclaimed 2021 Malayalam film The Great Indian Kitchen, Mrs could very well be called pan Indian but the budget, and the lead star have nothing to do with that. Pan India as a term has been relegated to only the scale of films since Baahubali, but it is really about how relatable the subject at hand, is. (Also read: The Great Indian Kitchen review: Powerful film on patriarchy and men-governed traditions)
The smell of the kitchen
The story revolves around Richa (Sanya), a free spirited girl and trained dancer. She gets married to Diwakar Kumar (Nishant Dahiya), a gynaecologist, who is following in his father Ashwin Kumar’s (Kanwaljit Singh) footsteps. She slowly realises it’s a patriarchal setup at his house- one where a woman managing the house round the clock isn’t considered as hard working as a man going out to work. Richa losing her own identity in her quest to become the ‘perfect bahu’ is the rest of the story.
Mrs simply follows Richa’s changed life after getting married. Her loving husband, in the initial days of their marriage, wants her to be like his mother, who is basically a robot at this point in her life, making sure that she eats her family’s leftovers at the dining table. He remarks then ‘Kitchen is the solution to every problem’. On another occasion, she doesn’t want to have sex at night after slogging in the kitchen all day. ‘You smell like the kitchen, the sexiest smell in the world’ remarks Diwakar.
Writers Harman Baweja (yes, the actor) and Anu Singh Choudhary, and director Aarti Kadav very smartly use these one liners to trace a character arc for Diwakar. Richa later finally protests against sex becoming all about his satisfaction rather than about her desires. To which Diwakar remarks that she ‘smells like the kitchen’, which has made her undesirable. It is ironic that a doctor who specialises in diagnosing and treating conditions of the female reproductive system, chooses to be ignorant when it comes to his own wife.
Performance report card
Sanya is cast perfectly, because she makes you feel exactly what her character is going through. That’s the sign of a great actor, isn’t it? Like her first day managing the household alone- you feel the anxiety, the nervousness. And crestfallen when she witnesses her demotion from a good dancer, to someone taking orders for shikanjis and jeere wala paani.
Aarti aims for subtlety and it is hard to miss, because not one scene here feels out of place. Everything is measured and exists for the right amount of time on screen. Nishant has done a fine job as the misogynistic husband. Kanwaljit is dependable, as always, and his performance makes the right amount of impact as the controlling father-in-law.
Aparna Ghoshal as Meena, Richa’s overworked mother-in-law is wonderful and makes you feel for her.
Overall, Mrs is a well-shot, well-intentioned and well-made film. There’s plenty of food for thought here (pun unintended). I, for one, am suddenly cognisant of how I function at my home.
