Mrs. review: Sanya Malhotra's film is deeply impactful, much like the Malayalam original

The beauty of Sanya Malhotra's latest Mrs. lies in the little nuances in the screenplay. The film never fully spells out the issues, yet it's the little moments, an expression here and a dialogue there that give out the message loud and clear. Making a remake of a critically acclaimed film comes with a huge amount of expectations.Mrs. is based on 2021's critically acclaimed Malayalam film The Great Indian Kitchen, which earned worldwide praise.

The Malayalam film is still fresh in the minds of many, so making a Hindi version so soon may feel unnecessary. Yet, the Hindi language remakeMrs is an important film which speaks a universal language. Filmmaker Arati Kadav takes up the challenge and delivers a deeply impactful film that may resonate with many viewers personally.

The plot of Mrs

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Set in Delhi, the film has Malhotra playing Richa - a passionate dancer who gets married to Dr Diwakar, a gynecologist (Nishant Dahiya) who may be a pro at understanding the female anatomy but is blissfully ignorant about what women want. The couple lives with Diwakar's parents - a mom who toils through the day cooking for the family and providing everything to the patriarch without him asking and a conservative father who only knows how to nitpick and say no to every new change.

Initially, Richa willingly helps her mother-in-law with all the household chores, especially with cooking, but weeks later finds herself struggling as she is unwarrantedly given charge of the household after her mother-in-law goes out of town. Despite her efforts to impress her father-in-law and husband with her culinary skills, her every move is deeply scrutinised and criticised.

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While her father-in-law is a conservative man of a different generation, Richa also struggles to make her husband understand her point of view. A man who feels 'Kitchen is the solution to every problem' considers his wife's passion for dance as a 'hobby'. He forces himself on her every night in an attempt to make babies never really understanding her desires and calls the smell of the kitchen (emanating from the hardworking wife) 'sexy' and 'disgusting' at his convenience.

For Richa, problems are in plenty - conservative in-laws, a misogynist husband, the unending hours of toil inside the kitchen and never really meeting expectations and a constantly leaking kitchen pipe which is left unattended by the men in the family who are only too busy to order her around and never there to listen.

The writing of Mrs

The writers - Anu Singh Choudhary, Harman Baweja, and Kadav - keep Jeo Baby's original screenplay intact mostly- only adding a few new elements and changing certain aspects to suit a Hindi-speaking audience. But it never deviates from the main plot, where the leaking tap and overflowing dirty water in the bucket serve as the right metaphor for the grind of domestic chores that wears off so many women in Indian households.

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The detailing is superb, thanks to the solid writing. The elements of tension and a feeling of being uncomfortable seeps in while you witness Richa serving breakfast alone for the first time. Or the sense of disappointment you feel when she isn't allowed to go for a job interview. On many occasions, the situations seem too familiar and hence uncomfortable as though you have seen this happening to you or someone you know. It is familiar yet it hits home.

The performance in Mrs

Malhotra is terrific as Richa, a woman who wants to keep it together and yet realises she is losing herself amid the mundanity and misogyny. Nishant Dahiya who had played an antagonist in Kedarnath too, is solid in his performance as a clueless misogynist husband who is terrible in every aspect- in bed, he forces himself on his wife, in life he is dismissive of all her problems, desires and dreams. Veteran actor Kanwaljit Singh plays the authoritative father-in-law who only knows how to order and reprimand.

The messaging of Mrs. is not in your face yet hard-hitting. The problematic behaviour of the inlaws is unraveled slowly and subtly - and just like Richa, the anger grows inside you.

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Mrs. also highlights the deep-seated biases that exist in our society. They are subtle but how one perceives creative professions, how one treats a son and a daughter, and how a woman always gives home and family priority above everything else- stuff that we all have seen, and practiced- some willingly and others reluctantly. The film tells a very well-known story but still leaves a defining impact.

Mrs. is streaming on ZEE 5. Do not miss this one.