Malayalam flick "The Great Indian Kitchen" to be made in Hindi

Mumbai: Regional movies can no longer be cooped up in local languages. They cross over the linguistic divide in remakes, enticing movie buffs far afield.

Ace Malayalam director Priyadershan is no slouch when it comes to remaking. Most of his remakes worked wonders in Hindi. Now that OTT is the thing of the moment, redoing is just part of the game. The most recent flick from Malayalam to be remade in Hindi is "The Great Indian Kitchen" written and directed by Jeo Baby. The critically acclaimed family drama, released on Neestream in 2021, won a clutch of awards from Kerala: Kerala State Film Award for the Best film, Best screen play award ( Jeo Baby) , Best sound Designer( Tony Babu). It seems movie buffs are still nuts about the movie and hence, remake in Hindi alongside its upcoming Tamil version.

The original version has the mesmerizing Nimisha Sajayan in the female lead. She played the newlywed to orthodox husband ( Suraj Venjaramood); their pairing previously proved great chemistry in Nimisha's debut 2017 movie, "Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum". The newlywed, a dancer educated and raised in Bahrain, found herself in the suffocating traditional Kerala home. The continual push to fit herself with the sexist and myogenic environs proves too much for her. The movies throws into sharp relief Kerala's patriarchal family. The newlywed bogs down in the home drudgery, especially the kitchen chores. It is quite disgusting for her to do the dishes, left behind by men in a mess: how can women dine at the messy table? Why men escapes questioning? Among other chores, fixing the leaky taps too are left to women. Women have to fetch their hubby's toothbrush in the morning. Men just sit laid back swiping their phone, or doing yoga in the morning. She discovers how regressive orthodoxy could get, when she gets her period. The family drama tellingly takes on the society's narrow outlook.

The Hindi version may well have actor Sanya Malhotra in lead. She is known for her debut 2016 Hindi sports-drama Dangal. Actor-producer Harman Baweja will be reprising Suraj Venjaramoodu's role. The movie might strike a chord with Hindi speakers. Obviously, the title "The Great Indian Kitchen" piques interest, thanks to its perkiness. Like what it has done in south, the flick's take on parochial attitudes will work across languages.