Justice Chandrachud's words make us proud: The Great Indian Kitchen director Jeo Baby

The Great Indian Kitchen director Jeo Baby said he is proud that Justice DY Chandrachud, a judge who was part of the Constitution bench that passed the historic Sabarimala verdict of 2018, talked about his film in a webinar organised by Live Law.

In an excerpt from the webinar, Justice Chandrachud said, "Recently, I watched a Malayalam movie The Great Indian Kitchen, which was released and nominated for the Shanghai International Film Festival of 2021. The movie was situated in modern Kerala, where a newlywed bride was adjusting to her husband's household. In the latter half of the movie, the men were shown to be preparing for their pilgrimage. The film charted out the compounding indignities that the bride faced in unpaid and thankless labour that was exerted in domestic chores and cooking. The denial of her ambitions to work a job of her choice, and finally, the harsh isolation and associated untouchability when she was menstruating."

Elaborating further, Justice Chandrachud added, "The movie poignantly engaged with the news of the Supreme Court judgment and juxtaposed it with the lived reality of this woman who was not asserting the right to go on the pilgrimage, but was fighting a much deeper battle as her existence was diminished by her gender. This is a stark reminder of how mere legislative or judicial intervention does not automatically upend the inequities that are entrenched in our society. Even today, women struggle to achieve their basic rights."

Upon its initial release on Neestream, The Great Indian Kitchen immediately became a talking point, triggering largely positive discussions. However, Jeo Baby also faced vitriolic abuse on social media. The film, initially rejected by the major OTT platforms, was recently picked up by Amazon Prime Video.