‘Mrs’ review: Reheated serving benefits from the original flavouring

Jeo Baby’s The Great Indian Kitchen (2021) was an eye-opening account of domestic drudgery. Through simple, unvarnished storytelling that harnessed the device of repetition, the acclaimed Malayalam film exploded the myth of the housewife who loves to cook, clean and keep house, showing instead that housework was a form of invisible, unpaid labour reinforced by traditional values.

The Hindi remake keeps The Great Indian Kitchen’s core idea intact while adding a few new touches. Arati Kadav’s Mrs, which is out on ZEE5, stars Sanya Malhotra as Richa, a dance teacher whose arranged marriage to Diwakar (Nishant Dahiya) turns out to be one long slog in the kitchen.

The statement “I like simple, home-cooked food” is like a life sentence for Richa. Diwakar and his father Ashwin (Kanwaljit Singh) don’t lift a finger. Encouraged to emulate her mother-in-law Meena (Aparna Ghosal), Richa finds herself living the proverb that a woman’s work is never done.

One clue to the big difference between the two movies is the casting of the conventionally attractive Sanya Malhotra as a submissive hausfrau with self-esteem issues. Nimisha Sajayan, who played the role in the Malayalam production, embodied the ordinary middle-class woman who has much to lose for rebelling against her husband’s diktats.

A smaller clue into why the Hindi remake…

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