S K Nag
The recent movie Mrs. premiered on the OTT platform ZEE5 on February 7, 2025. It showcases the women of India and how they suffer within the four walls of domestic ritual in a family on the pretext of upholding tradition and cultural ethos. Therefore, Patriarchal dominance suffocates them. Obviously, the movie represents a specific section of society, but it is hard to believe how this system managed to exist even in today’s digital world.
Director Arati Kadav articulated this well, and all the characters selected by the director acted out it very precisely and meticulously. The dramatization took the audience to the limit of tolerance, and sometimes, it was so irritatingly fascinating that the audience might react involuntarily. This story is a remake of the famous Malayalam movie “The Great Indian Kitchen,” which received many accolades in 2021.
Sanya Malhotra played the role of Richa Sharma, a trained dancer and dance instructor who confronted the patriarchal discipline of the in-laws’ families, leading to adjustment problems due to the stubborn attitude of the father-in-law living in the world of the 18th Century. Despite her effort to adjust with minor realigning the norm in the family, she failed to convince them and finally revolted and discovered herself once again.
The conservative middle class with a good education could not bring the required flexibility when the bride is from a well-to-do family with a good education and career. The mother-in-law, who has a Ph.D. in economics, has compromised in front of an unjustified family tradition seen in Feudal Society, which does not have any value other than enforcing an unjustified family hierarchy. The mother-in-law’s situation was not the same as it is today. Modernity has opened many liberty and human values; therefore, it needs a fresh look when a new member joins the family in current times.
Instead, with the traditional mindset and upholding so-called family rituals, setting aside education qualifications on either side, making the bride a free asset for taking care of domestic chores, is inhuman and undesirable in today’s world because our ‘Sanatan dharma’ neither preach nor teach this to practice.
Therefore, this story has been an eye-opener where traditional & social expectations from Indian wives have buried their self-aspiration after marriage, which has been a problem for many. Still, the solution provided in the movie might be thought-provoking and revolutionary. Indian women have been trained to be resilient since their childhood, but will this end someday? This question needs an answer within a legal system. However, the role of a husband must be understood by every person bringing a new family member and should be a catalyst of harmony, not a parent’s boy.
(Author is Political & Economic Analyst. The views expressed are personal opinion of the author.)
