New Delhi, Feb 6: Actor Sanya Malhotra says she watched the acclaimed Malayalam film “The Great Indian Kitchen” when she boarded its adaptation “Mrs”, which she describes as a “more palatable” story for north Indian viewers.
The Hindi film, also starring Nishant Dahiya and Kanwaljit Singh, is based on 2021’s “The Great Indian Kitchen” directed by Jeo Baby.
Much like the original film, “Mrs” revolves around an aspiring dancer called Richa who is married off in a patriarchal family where she is reduced to doing household chores but ultimately resists her oppression.
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The success of “The Great Indian Kitchen” shot Baby and its lead star Nimisha Sajayan to nationwide fame. Arati Kadav of “Cargo” fame has directed “Mrs”.
While she didn’t exchange notes with Sajayan before starting work on “Mrs”, Malhotra said watching the original movie helped as the story resonated with her a lot.
“I’d already seen the film when it came to me. The idea was to make the film more palatable for the north Indian audiences. That was always in our mind. I didn’t get a chance to talk to her … the thing is that this story is so relevant… So many women have related to.
“Some are feeling triggered, some are feeling emotional that it’s their story… That’s the reason we adapted the film and made it our own. Arati brought her lived-in experiences and made it very personal. I know people around me, including a close friend, who have faced similar challenges as Richa,” the actor told PTI in an interview here.
Malhotra, also known for films such as “Dangal”, “Pataakha”, “Pagglait”, and “Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery”, said she likes writing a journal for the characters she wants to understand “emotionally”. She did the same for Richa, her character in “Mrs”.
“There are some characters which don’t require me to go in depth. But in this one, I had to do it because I’ve never experienced what she’s experiencing. So, I maintained a journal constantly writing her back story about her childhood…” she added.
Kadav said when film’s producer Harman Baweja approached her for “Mrs”, she felt his heart was in the right place.
“He said he wanted to make the film because he felt like he should change himself after watching the movie. I want more people to see it. If the compass is pointing in the right direction, you should go for it,” she said.
What further piqued Kadav’s interest about the film was that Malhotra was already interested about coming on board.
“When I met her, I felt like some magic is going to happen… She brought in a lot of honesty and sincerity. When I saw her process as an actor, it kind of motivated me also to prep more, talk to more women. “This is my story, my mother’s story, story of every household. As I collaborated with Sanya, I really got to talk to women of today. I didn’t think that they would be facing something similar but I realised it could have been my problem as well,” she added.
Kadav said it was “just a matter of chance” that she is able to have a life outside her home.
“I feel most of the women are expected to do this invisible work and not really fully realise themselves as complete human beings. I felt that urgent need to make this film. The process was beautiful thanks to her . We never tried to do any kind of posturing, the film doesn’t even have the word patriarchy. We are also trying to navigate and solve this problem.”
“Mrs” is finally set to premiere on ZEE5 on February 7 after a long festival run, which included stops at 2023 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, 2024 New York Indian Film Festival, 2024 International Film Festival of India and 2024 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.
Kadav said she is happy that the movie has found a home at the streamer.
“It is the right platform for this film because it will reach people for whom the film is made. That’s the core intention of making this film.”
“OTT has been career defining for me. I feel like this film will do very well on ” added Malhotra, who saw a career turnaround through direct-to-digital movies like “Pagglait” and “Kathal”.
Presented by Jio Studios in association with Baweja Studios, “Mrs” is produced by Jyoti Deshpande, Pammi Baweja and Harman Baweja. (PTI)
