Mrs. Movie Review: A stinging satire on patriarchy

 

CAST:

Sanya Malhotra, Nishant Dahiya, Kanwaljit, Varun Badola, Loveleen Mishra Mrs. revisits the themes of patriarchal oppression and domestic drudgery explored in The Great Indian Kitchen. While Jeo Baby’s 2021 Malayalam film was raw and immersive, almost documentary-like in its portrayal of the exhausting, repetitive nature of "women’s work," Mrs. doesn’t suffocate you in the same way. The Great Indian Kitchen was unwatchable at times because of the horror it slowly emanated. You wanted to run away from it. Mrs. doesn't hit you quite that hard. Arati Kadav’s direction makes it more accessible to a mainstream audience while retaining the core message. In Mrs., for instance, the scenes depicting the pariah-like attitude towards the new bride during the days she’s on her period are almost normalised. The humiliation that the protagonist felt in the Malayalam original is toned down.  What director Arati Kadav has done differently is that from a teacher, she has turned the husband into a gynaecologist. It gives Richa (Sanya Malhotra) a false hope that her husband will ‘get’ her. Well, he might get a girl's anatomy but is still a caveman when it comes to understanding her emotional and psychological needs. He's brought up witnessing the casual patriarchy practiced by his father and ends up reiterating it. The film’s strength lies in its ability to show how patriarchy operates not just through overt cruelty but also through subtle, everyday actions. Richa’s husband, played by Nishant Dahiya, is someone you’d love to hate. At the beginning of the film, he tells her that the smell of the kitchen on her is the best smell in the world. Later though, he finds it a turn off. He dismisses her needs and finds her demands to be inconvenient. Kanwaljit Singh, as the patriarch, is equally compelling, his polite yet oppressive demeanor slowly chipping away at Richa’s spirit. The father and son don't feel they've done any wrong because their actions aren't challenged ever.