"Dheemi-dheemi aag me pakaana, dheere-dheere, pyaar se, layer by layer": Mrs.
NOTE: The post contains spoilers, so maybe watch the movie first, if you plan on watching!
Secondary, please don’t interpret this through the lens of ego, as it might lead to misunderstandings, you might come to a point to hate comment me.
Third, these are my personal views, not a universal rulebook. So before you type 'Not all men, or Not all women,' take a deep breath, sip some water, and remember: it's all love here!" ❤️✨
Well, It was 2 hours ago, I finished the movie 2 hours ago, took a break so that my writing is not just a bottle of emotions coming from a young Indian woman shaken by the movie. Two hours after finishing the movie, its scenes still linger in my mind—raw, unsettling, and painfully familiar!
The quote is from a dialogue by the FIL (father-in-law) in the movie, who says this for the chicken, but then it hit me, it was not just for the chicken being cooked for lunch, this is the story of average Indian housewife,
"Simmered slowly over a gentle flame,
Burning bit by bit, in love's name,
Layer by layer, they gently fade" ...
The movie starts on a pretty note with the husband being all caring about the wife, until the patriarchal upbringing hits! The movie beautifully captures how the housework becomes too much and still is technically invisible to everyone.
The movie comes to a point, where I wanted to slap the husband character, where 'Richu' (the female lead) is seen emotionlessly lying there and the husband coercing intimacy on her. It was easy to understand how someone who's been up since 5 a.m., running all day, might not be ready for intimacy at midnight where the goal is to make her pregnant. When she finally raises her voice against it, the response is, "Oh wow, now s*x with me is painful too!!"
The film also uses a metaphor of leaking pipeline throughout the months to show the negligent sharing by the male characters in the household matters.
One of the strongest suit of the movie I thought was, 'not an evil mother-in-law' as always presumed in the case. The movie by showing the everyday robotic routine of her character shows how mechanically she is used to this for years with or without the understanding of it.
I loved how the movie displays hypocrisy too, where the men are seeing quoting how fasting is good for health on Karwa Chauth and promoting it dearly while asking Richa to make biriyani for them at the same moment. Like bro!!! Why not do as you preach! interestingly the same day, when Richa is on fasting for the husband's good health or whatever, she is asked to leave the house on account of being a social media traditional dance influencer as she refuses to delete her account.
I’m leaving this post open-ended because the questions it raises don’t have easy answers. How do we break free from these invisible chains? I don’t know. But the film’s truth lingers—a truth about countless women, mothers, wives, and daughters…and perhaps in the heart of India.