The Great Indian Kitchen

THE GREAT INDIAN KITCHEN

(മഹത്തായ ഭാരതീയ അടുക്കള)

Director and Writer : Joe Baby

The great Indian kitchen from the beginning portrays the hardships a women faces after marriage, where she is not allowed to question anything and go with the flow or rather go with whatever the “man” says to do. A women cannot question even if she sees something as unfair because her life itself is not in her hands and whatever is happening with her too is unfair.

What is “Unfair”? If you cannot have an opinion of your own. If you cannot choose the way you want to life, the profession you want to work. If you cannot point out the mistakes of your own “man”. If you have to zip your mouth and sit like a brainless moving body. Marriage is a commitment between a man and women and NOT THEIR FAMILIES. No one has to live with the terms of someone else or someone else’s family members! This is our life and how we live should be a reflection of what we want in life and what others want us to be. In the movie none of their characters have names, it’s because name doesn’t matter, that household represents each and every household where such kind of unfair incidents happen. That daughter-in-law represents many Indian daughter-in-law’s who doesn’t have any say of their own trapped in a male dominant zone, trapped in the kitchen and more than half their lives they spend in the kitchen, pleasing their man who still will not be satisfied with the sacrifice of his woman!

I praise the climax, a well deserved one, where she swings the bucket of dirty water on her husband and father who lives in an olden world where women who are menstruating are not supposed to touch anything or anyone and stay in a room, to cook fresh food everyday according to their taste, to sit at home when they really want to go work and have an individuality of their own, to literally taking away what a women really wants to have. And the most important thing “The definition for pleasure may not be the same for men and women and those differences are to be respected.” Everything becomes enjoyable, only if both parties are satisfied, otherwise it can be “ a non avoidable get it over with somehow” thing.