The Great Indian Kitchen

I had heard about this movie in 2020 in a review stating one among the top 10 Malayalam movies one should watch. I got to watch it recently And within the first 5 minutes - I was absorbed in it It is a brilliant movie. A Class apart that reflects a hidden dark truth of Indian society in general - more pertinently of the Brahminical higher class families who see women - as servants and the ones who do work and cook and serve the males.

The issue is old and told many times before, but this time the Screenplay writer turned Director Jeo Baby has hit the nail hard not shying away from showing the truth as is.

The story is simple. An educated dancer (several award-winning actress (Nimisha Sajayam) gets arranged-married to a teacher (Suraj Venaramood) in a traditional patriarchal family. Life as a newlywed bride with domestic routines starts with a bliss but slowly turns into a realization of the ugly truth of drudgery and patriarchal exploitative undertones - of how religious yet dirty these family men can be.

Joe Baby through his tightly knit script does not miss a beat in every little detail of how insensitive men treat women - more in case their wives. Juxtaposed to the wife - the director has also shown other women - normalising the drudgery life with happiness and servility

Nimisha Sajayam has done a brilliant job in acting through all the hard-work and dirtiness of daily household work load. The best part is there is not a single thing told as being preachy or shown negatively to create our audience's sympathy for the wife.

Yet the sensitive audience will root for the wife. The best part of the movie is the ending which I won't reveal here to lukewarm it. It is dirty and good.

Frankly I have seen a really good movie after a very long time. Surely all men who are patriarchal and pretending to be goody-goody husbands and kind - would find it very difficult to sit through this movie. They might not even understand - what is going on.

It is also possible that many wives and women too would not be touched by the subject shown in the movie

This movie is a brutal truth as a tribute to the Indian wives married in an arranged marriage setup.

I can keep on adding praise - worthy for his movie. It is once in a decade that such movies are made that are not only educational but socially changing.

Brave, exceptional, powerful, must watch, classic - a hard slap on all the Indian mentality (which includes all family members who think women are here to do household chores)

I recommend this movie to every husband, wife, in-laws and family members as compulsory viewing; and have discussion around their own households and daily lives.

I would go with 8.25 out of 10 One of the highest rated movies of mine on IMDB (there are only 2 other rated so high by me)

What an amazing movie. Exceptional direction, ultra natural acting from everyone. I think this is not just a movie, but a masterpiece. Hats off to the team that made this movie!

A film which bluntly showcases everything about gender, religion, superstitions and traditions within 2 hours. Excellent cinematography and sound design makes this work unique.

The majority of the first 20 or 30 minutes of the movie are of household chores. You might find it frustrating. But that's the point. If watching a few scenes of cooking and cleaning makes you frustrated, imagine how the ones who does those things feel. You might also feel some scenes were exaggerated. Yes, things have changed a lot in most places. But trust me, there are still some people who follow those ridiculous rituals. Some idiots might say this is against Hinduism and all. But it's not. These same people would've said people like Ayyankali and Sree Narayana Guru were anti-Hindu. Nimisha Sajayan and Suraj delivers awesome performances as usual. But I'd love to see something different from Nimisha. The actors who played Suraj's parents were good. The movie mocks the hypocrisy of so called "believers".

Director has carefully crafted the context of each frame in the movie. A single frame of the movie reveals the time of the day, the setting, the context and situation. Actors delivering flawless performance in each setting. The dialogues, supporting sounds, expressions and frames work together to shout out the message of the movie. Its beautiful and equally thought provoking to see how an unwashed tea cup, a leaking sink and the waste water bucket have a lot to convey and easily takes space in the movie. Hats off to the team for delivering the attention and detailing required to pass the bigger message.