The Great Indian Kitchen Review - A hard look at Patriarchy in our Society

 Movie - The Great Indian Kitchen

Cast - Nimisha Sajayan, Suraj, Venjaramoodu, T. Suresh Babu

Rating - 4.5/5

This movie by Jeo Baby has to be one of the most important and relevant movies to come out of the Indian film industry in the last decade. It shows a mirror to the audience to reflect upon the existing patriarchy in our society and our households.

The movie takes us through the daily lives of a nameless newly wed couple. We will call them Girl and Boy for the sake of it.

In the first scene of the movie, the girl is shown doing what she loves to do, with a subtle foreshadowing of the world she will be getting into after her marriage. The Girl and Boy get married and she enters the Boy’s family with dreams for an exciting new future. Unfortunately, the Girl is pushed into the kitchen right from day 1. The dynamics in the house is made clear where the male members of the family are shown relaxing (the boy does yoga, while the father-in-law is even handed his toothbrush in the morning), while the female members of the family grind it out in the kitchen. This dynamic is ingrained in our psyche from a very early age, and this is further emphasized when the newlywed couple go for their first dinner invitation after marriage. In that scene, the director beautifully captures the patriarchy in the house, by showing  the male members of the family are being served food, while the female of the family irrespective of their age is down the pecking order to get their dinner. The mother advises her young daughter to not sit but serve everyone on the table, while in the background an old woman is shown awaiting her dinner in another room.

The movie drives its point strongly through the use of repeated visuals and minimum dialogues like the shot of the dirty dining table after the men of the family have had their meal and that of the women cooking and cleaning.    

Then the girl’s mother-in-law goes off to her daughter’s house and the entire responsibility of the household falls on her shoulders alone. The mother-in-law goes through the same ordeal but in a different place. It shows the extent to which the patriarchal idea has been embedded and passed on for generations. This also highlights a very common tradition which has been passed on for generations that the mother is responsible of taking care of her pregnant daughter so that the husband can “relax” and lead his routine life.

The audience is bombarded with images of food items being cut, cooked and utensils being cleaned in the kitchen in a deliberate attempt by the director, and it successfully drives home the point that it intends to make.

In another scene, which signifies the protagonist’s situation, the kitchen sink gets clogged (just as her life has got clogged in this kitchen) and the stench which stays in her hand after she unclogs it signifies the stench the kitchen has left in her real life, which she cannot get rid of.

The movie also shows the other side of the spectrum, where the girl’s friend invites her for a function, and her friend’s husband is cooking food in the house. This gives hope that our society is slowly undergoing a change where the man and woman of the house take up equal responsibilities of the household.

The indifference of the husband to any of his wife’s concerns and difficulties is appalling and any question raised on the men of the family is interpreted as a question on their manhood and dominance. The biggest irony of the movie is that the girl gets respite from the kitchen due to an outdated age-old tradition which is still common in our society.

Another very significant scene is when a male guest comes to the girl’s house and decides to make dinner for all. After making dinner, the male guest proclaims the ease of cooking while completely oblivious to the big mess the kitchen is in, in the aftermath of the dinner cooking.

The movie further explores the mistreatment of menstruating women of the family during the auspicious month when the Sabrimala pilgrimage takes place. The age old and outdated traditions are still forced upon the menstruating members of the family, and it is another reflection of the patriarchal mindset and tradition of the society. These traditions and rituals are justified in the name of retaining the culture, while turning a blind eye on humanity. It also partially covers the Supreme Court judgement on the Sabrimala issue and its reaction in the society. The rituals of the Sabrimala pilgrimage actually reflects the position of women in this patriarchal society.

The leaking pipe under the sink represents the patience of the protagonist which is wearing out slowly throughout the movie, and it perfectly set us up for the climax of the movie.

 The acting ensemble are filled with such natural actors that it does not seem like we are watching a movie. Nimisha Sajayan is the star as she brings the protagonist’s role alive, and you feel for her throughout the movie. The cinematography by Salu K. Thomas takes up the major weight of movie as his shots hit the audience hard. The real winner of this movie is the director and writer Jeo Baby, who puts us through a guilt ride by showing how everyone in this society contributes to the patriarchy and mistreatment of women. The time has come to change the society from its core.