Visakhapatnam: Even as there is no trace of physical abuse per se in the film ‘Mrs.’ that highlights patriarchal norms, it did trigger a debate over gaslighting in a marriage, meeting ‘templated’ expectations of the household and how far a woman can stretch to save her marriage.

As the Hindi remake of Jeo Baby’s Malayalam movie ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’ hits the OTT platform, it did flag the dark side of the marriage. Apparently, a section of women confess that they viewed themselves on the screen as most scenes resonate with them. When Sanya Malhotra enters her in-laws’ house with a million dreams in her eyes, she did expect to be respected, accepted and decently treated at home.However, the expectations and initial excitement evaporate like a mist that disappears quickly as the sun rises over the horizons. Eventually, the excitement and happiness soon get replaced by dread and anxiety as the reality hits hard. ‘Mrs.’ portrays this sensitive aspect and the length of ‘adjustment’ and ‘compromise’ that a woman has to stretch in order to meet the unending demands of the household.

The movie gives viewers a deeper look into a suffocating marriage where many women continue to experience, albeit in silence, and get trapped into it even without realising it.

A section of women who watched ‘Mrs.’ expressed that they could relate well to the character essayed by Sanya Malhotra as at some point of time, they did come across a similar situation. “I belong to Karnataka and I got married to a Telugu person. Right from day one, my mother-in-law made it quite apparent that I should get adapted to Telugu traditions. Initially, I could not see any underlying message in it. Later, she used to comment even on the rangoli patterns I designed, arguing that such designs were confined to Karnataka and they had no place in the house. After watching Mrs., I could see the kind of suffocation one goes through when the father-in-law sets ‘norms’ in the family. However, in my case, it’s my mother-in-law,” compares V. Lakshmi, an entrepreneur.

Like Lakshmi, those who watched the movie say that ‘gaslighting’ in a marriage has slowly become normalised. “I get so offended when my husband points out that I stink of sweat. Like Sanya in the movie, when I am left with no other choice than running kitchen errands, preparing meal after meal with no help forthcoming, how else would I smell like? I can’t get dressed up at home to cook and keep the house clean,” says Madhavi Latha, a homemaker. Even now, in most households, daughters-in-law are expected to adopt traditional methods to cook meals. “But the same is not applicable to the daughter of the house. Despite being employed, my in-laws expect me to cook an elaborate meal for them in a traditional manner whenever they visit. However, with their daughter’s family, they are quite open to dining out and getting parcel service. What annoys me is the way they claim that they treat me like their daughter,” says M. Radhika, who works in a corporate company.If being a homemaker is a thankless job, the film ‘Mrs.’ accentuated how the community needs to be respected for the drudgery they carry out day in and day out. And they do have the right to say ‘enough’ and ‘no’.