I watched a Malayalam Movie last week named ‘Ustad Hotel’ starring Dulquer Salman, Nithya Menon and Thilakan. The movie is directed by Anwar Rasheed, produced by Listin Stephen, and brilliantly written script by Anjali Menon. The movie can be categorized under the Comedy genre. The film appears simple but carries a profound message that life gives opportunities in numerous forms.  The movie was released in 2012. I love watching Malyalam movies because they usually carry meaningful message, they have extremely talented actors who give their best and are ready to experiment variation.  

The film tells the story of Faizal (Dulquer Salmaan), who is called Faizi in the movie, and the path he chooses to find his purpose of life. The story tells Faizi’s journey of life. Along the way we see his relationships with his four sisters, his father and most importantly with his grandfather who is the owner of the Ustad Hotel.

Faizi’s story starts before he is born when his father Abdul Razaq (Siddique) and mother Fareeda (Praveena) are expecting their first child. Abdul’s confidence that the baby will be a boy and to his disappointment when this child, and the next three babies turn out to be girls. Finally, Faizi is born, his ambitious father plans out his son’s life leaving no room for the son to think and decide his own path. Faizi’s mother dies after his birth; luckily Faizi has his four sisters who bring him up after their mother’s death. His sisters know that he is training to be a chef in Switzerland while his father thinks he is studying for an MBA. The sisters don’t like his European girlfriend and neither do they like his plans to settle in London. They plot to bring him back to India. 

No sooner does Faizi return to India, his father Abdul tells him about Faizi’s s marriage planned with bride Shahana (Nithya Menon). Faizi tells his father about his intention to work as a chef. Faizi’s furious father impounds his passport. Faizi goes in desperation to his grandfather Kareem (Thilakan) who runs a small beachside restaurant in Kozhikode. The movie’s star is Thilakan.

Kareem acts as a mentor to Faizi and teaches him not only how to cook his famous biriyani, but also how to care for a business, including his workers, and the general community around him. The obvious respect which Kareem receives from everyone from his staff and customers including the chef in the five-star hotel nearby, makes Faizi realise that there is more to his grandfather than just being a chef. Kareem teaches life lesson to this grandson through his actions; individuals are accountable for fulfilling their social duty, and the actions of an individual must benefit the society. Everyone sees faizi as Kareem’s grandson and that defines his place in a way that has never been so clear before.  

Anjali Menon has crafted the story very well showcasing the relationship between the grandfather and grandson which is beautifully developed as Kareem starts by making Faizi a general helper and gradually allows him to develop his cooking skills while ensuring he gains a more mature outlook on life. Anjali Menon’s script is layered and the performances from Dulquer Salman and Thilakan are fantastic.

The film deserves the many accolades and awards received, including its three National Film Awards in 2012. The story is simple but beautifully executed with stunning cinematography and excellent performances from the whole cast. It’s a real feast for the senses given that most of the film revolves around food and cooking. The film was a commercial success.

You must watch the movie to watch Thilkan and Dulquer’s super-duper acting on Disney + Hotstar

Recently I saw the critically acclaimed Malayalam film “The Great Indian Kitchen”, and the movie shook my senses hard. The term gender equality is used so elusively in India, while men talk about gender equality and gender sensitization in board rooms and on various social platforms do they really care for it? Charity really begins at home, if men think it does not apply to their homes then their speeches and a sentiment shown to others is only and only hypocrisy.  

Practically every day a woman works like machine cooking, washing clothes, cleaning utensils, raising kids, and entertaining the guests. She plays multiple roles of a wife, daughter-in-law, mother, and many other relational roles. If she is working, which is often added to her burden in metros, she multi tasks in her job as well.

In 2017, Malayalam film maker Jeo Baby, his wife Beena and their newborn found themselves spending more time than usual in their kitchen. The “frustration” of his wife at having to constantly cook and clean inspired a movie that has received rave reviews across the board, especially from women.  The characters in the movie are nameless; you see them in majority households in India. The theme of the movie examines the grind of house chores through the experiences of a nameless recently married woman played by Nimisha Sajayan. She plays the newly married wife whose physical and emotional labour is unnoticed by her family, especially her insensitive husband. Actor Suraj Venjaramoodu plays the husband. Women’s roles in Indian society are stereotyped; their aspirations and desires are clipped before they blossom. The discrimination against women is obvious. And, it seems mockery when Indians talk of gender equality and gender sensitization. 

When it came to the process of release of the film, director Jeo Baby had to face difficulties to get a break on the OTT Platform. During his few interviews, he talked about the film’s storyline and told the multiple challenges he had to face while bringing his film to the audience. He said that various leading OTT platforms like Amazon Prime Indian and Netflix rejected the film as it did not fall into their criteria list. On the other hand, some of the platforms did not even give a valid reason for their rejection. The popular Malyalam OTT platform NeeStream gave a nod and screened his film. The film finally got its well deserving space on the OTT platform after the outrage on social media expressed by lakhs and lakhs  of audience. The movie is finally available for the audience to watch on Amazon Prime Video. This is the nerve of some big OTT platforms have.

The movie is written and directed by Jeo Baby and the music is composed by Sooraj S. Kurup and Mathews Pulickan. 

In most households the woman is so inundated with the household chores that she is never allowed to open her mind to desires. She is also not allowed to have an opinion of her. In a way, the men in her family kill her desires, her mind, and her aspirations. Sad, but the elder women in the family join the men because they assume it is normal as they already have experienced it in their youth. Most women enable this repression without asking questions. They perform their womanly duties, day in and day out with discipline.

The movie is slow with its narration which Jeo Baby has done purposefully. It is done with an intention to allow men to finally witness what happens inside the great Indian kitchens. The way a lady slaves with the daily chores; chopping, cleaning, prepping, boiling, scrubbing, and seasoning the vegetables, cleaning utensils after meals, organizing the kitchen. And women have been doing this generation after generation; women slog and slave away their lives in service of unconstrained men. Every scene feels long because it is dense with storytelling. Narrative jolts are far and few in between. In The Great Indian Kitchen, we finally see, step-by-step, how a woman is stripped of her basic rights as a human being.

I conclude on a positive note…at least 4 of my male friends who are younger, well educated, established in life have confessed that they felt very apologetic towards their wives after watching the movie. I congratulate Jeo Baby for capturing the inner most and sensitive feelings of a woman fabulously.