When I sat down to write this piece, I was angry. I knew exactly what I wanted to write about, but I struggled to find a title that would tie it all together. Then, I remembered a powerful scene from the movie that inspired this piece. In that scene, Richa spends her entire day toiling in the kitchen. When she serves the meal, she asks her husband and father-in-law if they liked it. Her husband jokes about her cooking, while her father-in-law remarks, “The salt is less,” as if he were some sort of Indian Gordon Ramsay.
“The salt is less”—those words stayed with me. They cut deep, not just because they were a critique of her cooking but because they symbolised how undervalued women are. It made me wonder: Will the salt ever be enough? Will a woman ever be enough?
These questions, and many others, are raised by Zee TV’s new movie Mrs., which has taken social media by storm. It is a remake of the 2021 Malayalam film The Great Indian Kitchen, which received critical acclaim for its portrayal of patriarchal expectations within marriage and how women are often confined to the kitchen after marriage.
This isn’t far from the truth. In South Asia, a woman’s worth and success in marriage are often tied to her ability to cook, clean, and manage a household. Women are frequently pressured to abandon their careers to focus on homemaking and raising children. And while homemakers deserve nothing but immense respect for the work they do, shouldn’t women have the right to choose their paths rather than being forced into them?
Mrs. Is a mirror reflecting our society, where women are expected to slave away all day and obey without complaint
In fact, why aren’t homemakers compensated for their work? In Mrs., when Richa and Diwakar visit one of her old friends, Diwakar insists on clearing the table—something he never does at home. He even supports Richa’s desire to re-join her dance troupe, despite opposing it at home. This reveals how even educated men like Diwakar present themselves as open-minded in public while being controlling and critical at home.
His hypocrisy becomes even more apparent when Richa jokes that he married her to get a free maid and cook. Diwakar is furious, even though it’s the truth. Women are expected to manage all household chores with little help. But if a woman chooses to take on domestic work, is she the only one living in that house? Why aren’t other able-bodied adults expected to contribute? If everyone is eating, shouldn’t everyone help with the cooking, too?
Richa’s father-in-law is a perfect example of this entitlement. An adult man who expects his wife to put his shoes on for him, he takes pride in the fact that his wife, who holds a PhD, stayed at home for the family, completely submissive to his decisions.
Mrs. Is a mirror reflecting our society, where women are expected to slave away all day and obey without complaint. Their choices—whether about their homes, their lives, or even their bodies—are not truly theirs to make. A “good woman” smiles through adversity and accepts injustice, even at the hands of her own family, husband, or in-laws.It’s important to note that it’s not just men who uphold these norms—women, too, play a role in maintaining them. This is seen in the movie through Richa’s mother-in-law and, to an extent, her mother, who advises her to adjust because “this is her life now.”
But why should women always be the ones to adjust? More importantly, how much sacrifice or compromise will it take for a “perfect marriage”? Or, like the salt in Richa’s food, will it never be enough?