Mrs Movie Review: Sanya Malhotra lights up this domestic drama where food is both a liberator and oppressor

Sanya Malhotra stars in Mrs

I was instantly reminded of Githa Hariharan’s short story Gajar Halwa as I watched Aarti Kadav’s Mrs. Hariharan’s short story follows a migrant labourer from South India who learns the recipe of Gaajar Halwa.

As each grated carrot assimilates into ghee, Perumayee realises that she has been subsumed by the city she lives in. Compare this to Richa (played by an earnest Sanya Malhotra), an aspiring dancer whose wings are clipped as she is forced to do household chores shortly after her marriage to a male gynaecologist.

Mrs: Plot

“Two parts lemon, one part baking soda. Kitchen is the solution to every problem”, says Diwakar (Nishant Dahiya), Richa’s husband who is too caught up with his work (and tennis matches) to help his wife in domestic chores.

Kanwaljit Singh is Richa’s father-in-law, who needs ajwain ka paani every morning and only eats green chutney grated on a silbatta (pestle and mortar) because he believes mixer dilutes the taste of pudina. Richa works in the kitchen tirelessly — from unclogging the sink to cleaning the leaked water from the pipe and whipping up chicken biryani for her thankless father-in-law. As a result, Richa's aspirations of working as a dance instructor are put to rest.

Mrs: Performances

The film has shots of scrumptious food, ranging from dum biryani to poha and shahi paneer to bharwa baingan. Kitchen is the solution to every problem in Mrs. The film doesn’t shy away from showing the lesser-aesthetic aspects of cooking. The dirty dishes, wasted food and the dirty water dripping from the sink, get equal screen space as aesthetic shots of food. Domesticity consumes Richa as she is caught up in the household chores, while being constantly undermined by the men in her family. That her mother-in-law, who could have been her confidante, goes on a long vacation to her maika makes matters worse.

Mrs: Writing And Direction

The film also makes a pertinent point of internalised misogyny. Women are turned against each other, often expected to make big sacrifices for the men in their family as their own needs take a backseat. What I absolutely loved was the film critiquing the notion of domestic help. Writers Harman Baweja
and Anu Singh Choudhary don't shy away from showing the deep-rooted casteist mindset of many so-called progressive Indian households. In one scene, the father-in-law is seen wiping the glass as he is served water by a house help who belongs to the lower caste.

Mrs: What Works, What Doesn’t

Of course, not every marriage starts on a wrong note. Richa and Diwakar bond over a shared Wi-Fi password and eventually get hitched. The abuse begins slowly, but steadily and it gets only worse. Diwakar isn’t a red flag (at first). As an English-speaking male gynaecologist, he is the cookie-cutter feminist man who shows his true colours post-marriage. What also works for the film is that it shows microaggressions in the domestic space which manifest as taunts and pointed jibes, which aren’t always obvious.

Much like the leaking pipe below the kitchen sink, Richa grows more and more agitated till she can no longer contain her rage. The pipe doesn’t burst, but Richa does as she has an emotional breakdown. She serves the contaminated water from the pipe to the guests and storms off in her car to attend the dance competition.

The prime number analogy which Richa coins is an absolute scene stealer. There is even a Ranveer Brar-like Sikh chef who teaches Richa how to cook (virtually, of course). Watch the film for its rather honest portrayal of how food can often be the liberator and oppressor.

Star rating: 3 / 5 stars

Mrs is now streaming on ZEE5.