The Great Award: Into the Best Film winner The Great Indian Kitchen and its underlined politics

When a movie that amplifies the hard-hitting gender politics wins a State Award, it is not a mere win of the team, but also about the refinement of the whole society. For the same reason, the win of The Great Indian Kitchen as the Best Film in the 51st Kerala State Awards, deserves rhapsodies of praise. 

Starring Nimisha Sajayan and Suraj Venjaramoodu in leading roles, the movie chronicles the patriarchal marriage of a couple, in which the woman is put under the conventional mould of an Indian ‘housewife’. After getting tired of being a typical slave of husband and her in-laws, and being chained inside the four walls of kitchen, the unnamed character of Nimisha walks away from the house, her marriage and everything that pulled her identity down until then. 

Interestingly, the strong statement of gender politics put forward by the movie doesn’t come with sparking dialogues or nail-biting sequences. Rather the film has chosen a subtle way of representation, where the household works of the woman are acted continuously, without a break or fast-forward. To a more realistic note, it is showcased in its complete rawness, where some of the scenes will appear disgusting to the audience, as she will be seen cleaning the kitchen wastes. The woman could also be seen ‘not-allowed’ to grab a job offer that came her way, or to attend family functions during her periods since she is ‘impure’ during those seven days. One could also see her being undermined by her husband, for having sexual desires of her own, which is ‘not-likely to be an Indian woman’. 

This is a very unique narrative to be attempted by the team, because unlike any other movies, The Great Indian Kitchen doesn’t have any twisting scenes or any colourful eye-grabbing settings . It simply keeps following the ‘housewife’ and her life inside the house. As many will find it ‘boring’, it will be the exact word the team would have aimed to knock to our senses- how ‘boring and dull’ is a woman’s life, when she is put under the so-called duties as a wife by the society, and nothing else. 

Before all the Kerala audiences who have been witnessing a very relatable story being played before them, the film drops its curtain as the woman simply walks out from the house, after throwing the whole kitchen waste on her husband and his father, which is nothing but a strong statement.

Helmed by Jeo Baby, The Great Indian Kitchen was a breakout film, when it was released on Neestream on January 15, 2021. It is to be noted that the release happened on the Malayalam OTT platform, after it getting rejected by the OTT giants Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The makers revealed then about the multiple challenges they faced during the release including Jeo Baby’s statement to Truecopy THINK. He said that the Amazon Prime Video’s rejection was due to the film’s ‘unfitness’ into their criteria, while Netflix simply informed their unwillingness to stream, even before watching the movie. 

As soon as the release happened, the movie started making headlines, and receiving high acclaim for the sensitive theme it carries. The movie has been praised by a large number of audiences and sparked numerous discussions and debates. Netizens, news publications and channels started talking out about the strong gender politics dealt in the movie. The OTT giants were also questioned about their unwillingness to take up the small budget, regional language films, which are politically loud too. Racing past all the ribbons, The Great Indian Kitchen was accepted by Amazon Prime Video, after three months of its release. 

‘The Great’ movie didn’t stop its marathon there, as it travelled miles ahead, to finally win the Kerala State Award for the Best Film. This is not just an award, but also a proof that the whole society has started to take a relook at their toxic norms and has started making amends. 

The social drama also features T Suresh, Ajitha V M, Sidhartha Siva in vital roles, while it is written and directed by Jeo Baby. The much-appreciated cinematography is handled by Salu K Thomas, while the music is from Sooraj S Kurup.

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While talking to Kaumudi after the announcement of the award, director Jeo Baby was all proud and happy, as his film could draw a huge success. He also dedicated the award to his team and to the whole womanhood out there, with a note of bringing up more films that are socially relevant. It is certain that the film’s win would have brought ecstasy not only to the team, but to a whole population, who had felt validated and spoken for, regarding the injustice they have been put under for ages.