Sanya Malhotra’s Mrs has been receiving widespread praise from both audiences and critics since its release on ZEE5 on February 7. Directed by Arati Kadav, the film is a Hindi remake of the Malayalam movie The Great Indian Kitchen. Sanya plays Richa, an aspiring dancer who is married into a patriarchal family and relegated to household chores but eventually fights back against her oppression.
Kanwaljit Singh dismisses ‘toxic feminism’ allegations against Mrs; says, “Hum sirf aayna dikha rahe hain”
In an interview with HT, actor Kanwaljit Singh, who portrays Richa’s patriarchal father-in-law, Ashwin Kumar, discussed the film’s impact, his family’s reaction, and why he felt compelled to apologize to Sanya Malhotra after watching it.
When asked if his family had watched the film, Kanwaljit Singh said, “Yes! Both my sons have watched it! My wife also has watched it. They absolutely know that this is an antithesis to what I am. Of course, they were shocked a bit. But there’s nothing there that I can be ashamed of. Whatever I take on I am never ashamed of it and I never regret. I loved doing it. Especially because a lady director has directed it, so she has brought about a lot of nuances, sensibility and sensitivity, which I don’t think a man could have brought out.”
Richa’s final decision to leave her home for good struck a chord with viewers. Reflecting on his reaction to that scene when he first read the script, Kanwaljit Singh said, “We were quite enthusiastic about making this and the end, everything seemed right to me. The only thing is I did not want to see the original version, The Great Indian Kitchen, because whatever happens something lingers on your subconscious and then you kind of do that, which I did not want to. I wanted him to be absolutely different from what I had done before. This was absolutely the reaction that I would have liked to be. The vicious circle goes on… hum log sudhrenge nahi! Humare pe koi keechar bhi uchalega toh hum nahi sudhrenge (We are not going to change! Even if they throw the dirt on us still we will not change for the better)! That was the point!”
The actor added, “This is the only thing he probably saw his father and grandfather do… So the son has watched his father and grown up the same way. This is ingrained in our personalities. These are the genes that we are born with. We think we are absolutely right in doing so. Now, I come from a family of five, and my dad was a great liberal man. He used to make two cups of tea for my mother early morning and then my mother would start doing the house chores and then he would go to the office. I come from such a background. I used to come from a small town, and people used to wonder, ‘Ye sardar kaisa hain yaar!’ We were not exposed to this kind of behavior from parents or people. Except that when I went to friend’s house when I sensed something different, which do not happen in my house. In small towns, most of the houses are patriarchal.”
Kanwaljit Singh admitted that he was so shocked by his own character’s cruelty in Mrs that he ended up apologizing to Sanya Malhotra after watching the film at the premiere.
“When we were doing the film I was too busy with other projects so I had forgotten everything about the film. The only thing I remembered was eating a lot! I had put on one and a half kilos of weight! Baith ke khaana hi khaana hain sara din. 10-15 din humne yahi kiya! Then when we were asked for the premiere, I saw the film and I was shocked! Maine kaha, ‘Bada zaalim aadmi hain yaar tu!’ I had forgotten completely! It was not in my memory ki ye maine kiye hain scene aise! Instinctively, I went up to Sanya and said, ‘I am very sorry.’ She was quite amused by my apology.”
Kanwaljit Singh addressed criticism of Mrs being labeled as promoting ‘toxic feminism,’ and stated, “We are not promoting anything. We are showing a mirror. Hum sirf aayna dikha rahe hain. Look, this is happening in society. We have to do something about it. That’s what the film is doing. And see, this is a vicious cycle. Ek toh chali jati hain keechad phek ke, aur dusri ab aa gayi! We must break that cycle.”
Mrs is streaming on ZEE5.
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