Rujuta Diwekar Praises ‘Mrs’ for Exposing the Silent Struggles of Women in Marriage:

Rujuta Diwekar, the much sought after nutritionist known for working with actor Kareena Kapoor for years, recently put up an insightful post on her social media account regarding the Hindi film Mrs on Saturday.

The film starring Sanya Malhotra as the lead is a remake of the popular Malayali film The Great Indian Kitchen (2021). After its OTT release in early February, the film garnered a lot of attention. Rujuta noted how Mrs seems to resonate with audiences left and right, sparking discussions about the regressive practices women have to endure in marital setups.

The film discusses deeply patriarchal cultures through the lens of a newly married woman who is forced to deal with extremely orthodox and harsh marital expectations. It powerfully encapsulates the work women do at home day in and day out, which is primarily cooking, cleaning, washing dirty utensils, and repairing leaky faucets, all of which are starkly different than the carefree life the men lead. As an outcome, the film boldly portrays the grim realities of domestic inequality women are forced to live, while also making a strong statement against societal values.

On Rujuta’s X account, she said, “People are triggered by Mrs because, for the first time, they are learning that girls who do nothing, grin, and serve are internally boiling in rage. And if given a chance, would dump a bucket on your head and run away from the hell that they are in.”

She went on to explain that “All work without recognition or appreciation is exploitation” drawing attention to the fact that women, more so, are subjected to a lot of unrecognised, undomestic work.

“Just because people are your mother, sister, wife, daughter, they do not want to be put in a box of invisibility and meaninglessness.” She said in the end.

This led to a lot of comments and reactions, with many noting how the unrecognized and untreated physical and emotional abuse of women prone to those they love most, is omnipresent.

One user remarked, “I love this. Besides, I would like to take advantage of your famous name and say that the women and men of both families are to blame for the predicament which the daughter in law found herself,” while another remarked, “Exactly right. But now people will be coming to your post and attacking you by calling you a ‘feminist’ as if that is some sort of abuse without even knowing the meaning of that word and try to discredit your point by demonstrating how much they respect their mother."