Aishwarya Rajesh’s The Great Indian Kitchen Is A Largely Faithful Remake With Some Subtlety Issues

Director: R Kannan

Cast: Aishwarya Rajesh, Rahul Ravindran

R Kannan's The Great Indian Kitchen is the official remake of the hit Malayalam film of the same title. Directed by Jeo Baby, the 2021 Malayalam original starred Nimisha Sajayan and Suraj Venjaramoodu in lead roles. With a forward-thinking approach and a critical eye on the patriarchy around us, several films have pointed out how Indian women are often confined within the four walls of a kitchen. But only a few films have managed to steer this subject with nuance, and Baby’s film tops the list, making its Tamil remake essential. 

With its heart in the right place, The Great Indian Kitchen Tamil, starring Aishwarya Rajesh and Rahul Ravindran, sets out to expose the patriarchal men that live among us. Aishwarya Rajesh plays a trained dancer and nameless woman in the film (just like the original), who marries Rahul Ravindran, a sociology teacher. And her routine after marriage follows a troubling pattern — she wakes up, cooks, washes the utensils, cooks the next meal, washes the utensils, and this cycle repeats. 

The shots of the kitchen and the clogged sink might become mundane and redundant, but that's the effect the film wants to achieve. To show that the story is not just restricted to the mindset of the men around Aishwarya, we get glimpses of Rahul’s sister, who is settled abroad. Although pregnant, she continues doing house chores and is unable to take good care of herself. 

The real message it wants to convey lies in the way the men in its universe react. When Aishwarya intends to attend a friend's dance program on a Sunday, her husband doesn't simply say no. He instead says that Sunday is the only day he gets to spend with her. When Aishwarya receives a job offer, her father-in-law has his own way of being dismissive. Instead of wielding power, he gaslights by informing her that no materialistic job can come close to the satisfaction of being a homemaker. The film also shows how her entrapment within the four walls is only symbolic of what's about to follow: a complete disregard of her will, be it in a casual conversation she wants to have, or saying no to sex because she’s exhausted. 

In a refreshing set of sequences, we see a beautiful bond grow between the young woman and her mother-in-law. She turns to her mother-in-law more than once to be rescued. When the men in the house do not allow her to apply for a job, she encourages her to go ahead. Similarly, when her husband complains about her, the mother-in-law requests him to adjust rather than belittle her.

However, the almost frame-to-frame remake benefits and suffers from replication. The kitchen, which resembles the one we saw in the Malayalam original, sticks out from its surroundings. In many instances, where the Malayalam version had us invested with its subtlety, the Tamil remake swaps it for dialogues. This is not to say it doesn't work. For instance, during the bride-seeing ceremony, Rahul asks, "Do you like cooking?" and Aishwarya replies, "I know how to cook." And as a joke, he adds, "I like to eat." This conversation sets the film's tone. But on a few other occasions, the additional dialogue water down the effect. 

Similarly, the remake uses the background score efficiently to enhance emotions. When Aishwarya casually mocks the selective nature of her husband’s table manners, he initially laughs it off. But as he begins to realise the meaning behind her jibe, the score hints at a change in atmosphere. Some of its casting choices are questionable but the makers more than make up for it with Aishwarya Rajesh, who in yet another remarkable performance, delivers the emotions of the every-woman. 

Nimisha Sajayan's character often kept her emotions to herself, so when she burst out in the climax, the payoff was brilliant. In the remake, however, Aishwarya’s character often retorts letting her fiery eyes do the talking. So, when she finally bursts out, we get to see her anger but it doesn't necessarily give the effect of an outburst. This imbalance of emotions in its pre-climax portions make its climax feel sudden and rushed, which in turn doesn’t have the punch-in-the-gut effect of the original. Nevertheless, The Great Indian Kitchen Tamil holds a mirror to society, pointing out the flawed thoughts, traditions, and habits we continue to imbibe and pass on.