Movies of War

Jeo Baby’s “The Great Indian Kitchen” is perhaps the most important film to come out of India in recent years. It is not because it’s based on grand lofty themes, or made at a great scale, or has a popular message. In fact, it will offend many and push many out of their comfort zones and collective slumber. And cinema is at its finest when it challenges pre-existing notions and makes one see the commonplace in a new light. If a comfort watch is what one seeks, then this is not the film for them, not because it is violent or dark in the conventional sense, but because it focuses on everyday events with a keen, observational, critical lens that makes us see the everyday injustices. It is a punch to the gut. Once a person sees it, they will never be the same again. Their whole view of family, politics, and social dynamics will need re-examination, if not more. Follow Our Tribute to Malayalam Cinema by Clicking in the link Below The principal characters in the story remain unnamed here. They are credited as father, mother, wife, husband, and that is definitely by design, as the story is not intended to be that of a particular character or family but a universal one. It is a nice side note and commentary to the proceedings. There is no particular striking, extraordinary plot to speak of. Like some of the best classical films by masters like Yasujiro Ozu and Satyajit Ray, the ordinary is seen through a poetic lens, becoming extraordinary. Still, the events of the film follow the aftermath of an arranged marriage of an unnamed woman (Nimisha Sajayan) and her initial days in the new household she has married into. There, she’s flung headlong into a world of endless household chores, cooking and preparing meals, familial expectations, and patriarchal socio-religious norms. Add to that the authoritarian control of her father-in-law, who barely lifts a finger himself but expects the world out of his wife and daughter-in-law. The husband is a complex character, but no better either. His ambivalence and apathy somehow cut deeper. This is because during the initial days of marriage, there is a brief honeymoon period that her husband seems to be in. Everything the protagonist does seems to be alright since the man himself is in the first flush of love. Love is perhaps not the right word, but desire in a repressed society. The desire also manifests in a selfish way. He is not attentive to her bodily needs. The act of pleasure is for himself alone. When she coyly suggests that they should engage in foreplay to make the experience less uncomfortable for her, he promptly slut-shames and rebuffs her by saying that he does not care for her enough to engage in any foreplay, as she cries herself to sleep. The scene is keenly observed and heartbreaking. It is an uncomfortable and often unspoken truth that even the domain of pleasure within a patriarchal set-up is a selfish one that does not acknowledge the needs or well-being of the woman. It is this very setup—of families living together, fathers and sons living under the same roof, where the women are supposed to sacrifice their dreams and care for the men alone, whether in the kitchen, cleaning the house, or in bed—that the film takes its strongest aim at. It does not merely suggest the patriarchy in daily societal norms but exposes it in all its ugliness. But the viewer realises that they are merely looking at a mirror and not at some isolated case, which is the true genius of the film. The setup of the conventional Indian family, often dubbed the Great Indian Family, is so common and recognisable. It has been sugar-coated and glorified in so many Indian films before that it makes “The Great Indian Kitchen” a great revisionist film and an antidote to those films. Without raising the stakes too much, the movie incorporates the real-life controversy regarding the entry of women in Kerala’s Sabarimala temple. It is a smart move from the personal daily conflicts to a larger, well-known conflict, and Jeo Baby manages to incorporate it without compromising the integrity of the main plot. The focus firmly remains on the unnamed protagonist and her struggles. It is her story, which cleverly revolves around the Sabarimala pilgrimage and the larger controversy. The portion between the middle and the end of the movie is most excruciating when it shows how the patriarchal family set-up, mixed with religious customs and norms that are unfair and obsessed with the idea of ‘purity’ make for a lethal combination and leads to many injustices and indignities. The space around the protagonist almost literally begins to resemble imprisonment in a jail cell as they practice a form of household segregation during the woman’s menstrual cycle. Despite so much dense contexty in a minimalist screenplay, director Jeo Baby does not lose his grip on the narrative, which immerses the viewer greatly. Credit goes to the subtle but effective production design and the shooting and coverage of the domestic spaces and props—the courtyard, the kitchen, and even the filthy dining table after a meal—by cinematography (Salu K. Thomas). The editing (Francies Louis) makes effective use of rhythm. This keeps the pacing going even though the film is not very heavily plotted, but is based on the details and rhythms of everyday life. Recently, Malayalam cinema has been doing this quite effectively, most masterfully in the films of Lijo Jose Pellissery, be it “Angamaly Diaries” (2017), another film where food plays a big role, or the wonderfully executed montages of the opening minutes of “Jallikattu” (2019). Food indeed plays a very important part in this movie and its narrative. The mention of it and admiring shots of it look delectable, but Jeo Baby questions whether the Great Indian Kitchen is actually “great”. Food and Indian society’s enjoyment and obsession with it actually assume quite a sinister role. Definitely not food itself, but how it is weaponised and used by society is really an antagonistic force in this film. Behind the enjoyment of the comfort of home food, there is a tyrannical and unfair social system. All this and more make “The Great Indian Kitchen“ very pertinent and difficult to ignore. Once one watches it carefully, it will be hard to shake off. There is no revolution without questioning the old social customs. If that is so, then this film indeed is a revolutionary force of nature. Tags:Francies LouisJeo BabyNimisha SajayanSalu K. ThomasThe Great Indian Kitchen