The Great Indian Kitchen

<p>An educated dancer, raised in , finds herself in an arranged marriage to a teacher in a very traditional and patriarchal family. While the domestic routine of the Wife begins in the sweet bliss of a new marriage, things begin to go south. The drudgery of the kitchen and its many unpleasantries—cleaning, filthy utensils and leaking taps—are left to the women while the men mostly indulge themselves with their phone or yoga. The family is so patriarchal that her mother-in-law hands his toothbrush to the father-in-law, while he is lounging by the verandah. The men eat their meals first and leave the place a mess without concern for how the women can eat food after them. Their convenience and comfort always come before consideration for their wives. While the new bride takes a while to adjust to these new surroundings and eventually somewhat makes peace with them, her mother-in-law goes to take care of her daughter, who is seven months pregnant. The whole responsibility of cooking, cleaning and other household chores falls on her. Her egotistical husband is inconsiderate of her needs and feelings. When she tells him that it hurts when having sex and asks for some , he remarks she seems to know everything on the topic and condescendingly tells her he should be attracted to her for foreplay, making her cry herself to sleep. Her father-in-law forbids her from finding employment, citing that a woman in the house brings prosperity to the family. When she gets her , she is appalled to discover that the family’s beliefs regarding menstruation are extremely regressive. She is asked to hole herself up all alone on the floor in a room, bathe in the river, eat separately and wash all the things she touches. She is even asked to go stay with a relative or to sleep outside during those days. While these events transpire, Kerala is grappling with , where the courts decided that menstruation is not an impurity and so women should be allowed to visit the temple. Many people, including her husband’s family, do not approve of the verdict. All these injustices boil over one day and end up with the wife throwing murky kitchen sink water on her husband and father-in-law and leaving the family for her freedom and dignity. The film ends with a scene showing her as an independent dance teacher arriving in her own car while her ex-husband is married again and the second wife seems to meet the first one’s fate. The shooting of the film started on 11 July 2020, in . The entire movie was shot within a house except for some outdoor scenes. The film’s principal cast includes several theatre artistes from Calicut. composed the film’s songs of the film. The lyrics were written by Mrudula Devi S and Dhanya Suresh.<br /> Two songs from this movie are in paluva language which is a mysterious language in community The film was directly released on a Malayalam on 15 January 2021. Several mainstream OTT platforms including and as well as major television channels rejected the film due to some scenes related to the . Although, Amazon Prime Video got the rights of the film after three months of its release on Neestream. The satellite rights were later purchased by due to the film’s positive response. Upon release, it received positive reactions from various film critics and was well received by the audience. On the website , of 8 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8/10. Litty Simon of has written that, “The excellent direction, well-written characters and seasoned performances with insightful message makes a fulfilling experience.” Anjana George of praised, ” comes as an eye-opener, at a time many women are still judged for their cooking skills than any other capabilities. It not only talks about the new-gen women who question such unsung slavery but is also a tribute to the women who have been silently managing it inside every home for centuries.” Soumya Rajendran of has effused, ” rips through patriarchy, the bedrock of the institutions of family and religion.” S. R. Praveen of said that ‘Actors Nimisha Sajayan and Suraj Venjaramoodu are excellent in this hard-hitting take on the sheer drudgery of everyday life, that many women go through. Sajin Shrijith of wrote: “This film made me want to talk to every woman in my family and ask them how they handled their frustrations and why some of them never dared to question their men?.” Haricharan Pudipeddi of wrote: has to be the most powerful film on patriarchy in recent years and it makes for a very important watch. Its lead actor Nimisha Sajayan is unbelievably convincing. has rated as 4 stars out of 5 and has written the film as an excellent family drama. Bobby Sing from rated the film four in a scale of five and described it as an “unusually exceptional film that makes you feel the guilt.” of Film Companion South wrote “The Great Indian Kitchen is a powerful tale of emancipation”. It was adapted to Tamil film , released in 2023, directed by . It was adapted to Hindi film</p>