An educated dancer Richa, finds herself in an arranged marriage to a doctor Diwakar in a very traditional and patriarchal family. While the domestic routine of Richa begins in the sweet bliss of a new marriage, things begin to go south. The drudgery of the kitchen and its many unpleasantries—cleaning, utensils and leaking taps—are left to the women while the men mostly indulge themselves with their phone or yoga. The family is so patriarchal that her mother-in-law hands the toothbrush to the father-in-law, while he is lounging by the verandah. The men eat their meals first and leaves the place a mess without concern for how the women can eat food after them. Their convenience and comfort always come before consideration for their wives. While the new bride takes a while to adjust to these new surroundings and eventually somewhat makes peace with them, her mother-in-law goes to take care of her daughter who is seven months pregnant.
The whole responsibility of cooking, cleaning and other household chores falls on her. Her egotistical husband is inconsiderate of her needs and feelings. When she tells him that it hurts when having sex and asks for some foreplay, he remarks she seems to know everything on the topic and condescendingly tells her he should be attracted to her for foreplay, making her cry to sleep.
Her father-in-law forbids her from finding employment, citing that a woman in the house brings prosperity to the family. When she gets her periods, she is appalled to discover that the family's beliefs regarding menstruation are extremely regressive. But she enjoys her time alone, her time of rest while her husband is shocked she got her periods at all as he thought they wanted to have a baby. She is left alone to handle guests, patriarchal backhanded comments and is away from all her life used to be.
All these injustices boil over one day and end up with the wife throwing murky kitchen sink water on her husband and father-in-law and leaving the family for her freedom and dignity. The film ends with a scene showing her as an independent dance teacher portraying her pains through a dance while her ex-husband is married again and the second wife seems happy to serve them, blissfully unaware of the horrors that await her. [4]
The music of the film is composed by Sagar Desai and Faizan Hussain while lyrics are written by Neeraj Pandey, Arun Kumar, Pallavi Bhardwaj Hussain, Neeraj Pandey and Arun Kumar.[5]
The film has been making rounds of various international film festival. It premiered at the 2023 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.[6] The teaser was unveiled in November 2023. The film was selected as the closing film at the 2024 New York Indian Film Festival, where Arati Kadav was nominated for the Best Director category. The film made Asia premiere at the 55th IFFI 2024 on November 22, 2024,[7] as well as in the 14th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), 2024.[8] It was released directly on ZEE5 OTT platform on 7 February 2025.[9]
Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated 3/5 stars amd observed that "Sanya Malhotra lives the role and director Arati Kadav orchestrates her resources with striking efficiency."[11]Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com rated 4/5 stars and notes "Mrs succeeds in riling you up for all the right reasons. And without resorting to high-pitched drama."[12]Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 3 stars out of 5 and said that "For those who haven't watched the Malayalam original, this Sanya Malhotra-starrer has enough merit. This is just the kind of film, with a clutch of effective performances and important messaging, which should be made mandatory viewing for couples."[13] A critic for Bollywood Hungama rated the film 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Mrs is a faithful remake and is laced with yet another memorable performance by Sanya Malhotra."[14]
Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in said that about the film that "Mrs communicates the reality behind delicious hand-churned meals and elaborate preparations. It involves a woman bent over a flame or a sink, glorified as the perfect housewife but often no better than an unpaid maid."[15] Sana Farzeen of India Today gave 3.5 stars and writes in her review that "Mrs is an unsettling reflection of a reality many women silently endure, making it an important watch. While it may not fully capture the unfiltered rawness of The Great Indian Kitchen, it still delivers a gut-wrenching portrayal of systemic patriarchy. " [16] Film Critic Sucharita Tyagi praises the film, saying, "Mrs. is too faithful a remake. Barring some (ineffective) song and dance, every beat is nearly identical to the original. Even if one hasn't watched Jeo Baby's film, the Bollywood sheen, texture, and overall voice in Mrs. is so overwhelming and complete in, one can pretty accurately predict where each scene is headed."[17]
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