“Mrs.,” released on February 7, 2025, on ZEE5, directed by Arati Kadav and produced by Baweja Studios and Jio Studios, is a Hindi-language drama starring Sanya Malhotra as Richa, a newlywed navigating the suffocating patriarchy of her in-laws’ home. A remake of the 2021 Malayalam cult classic The Great Indian Kitchen, it co-stars Nishant Dahiya as her husband Diwakar, with Kanwaljeet Singh and Aparna Ghoshal as his domineering parents. Despite its noble intent and a standout performance from Malhotra, “Mrs.” falters under the weight of its predecessor’s shadow, delivering a middling experience that lacks fresh bite.

The storyline follows Richa, a trained dancer with dreams of a career, who enters an arranged marriage with Diwakar, a gynecologist whose progressive veneer masks a deeply traditional household. Initially charmed, Richa soon finds herself trapped in a kitchen-centric existence—cooking, cleaning, and serving her husband and father-in-law while her mother-in-law (Ghoshal) reinforces the patriarchal norms. When the mother-in-law leaves for a trip, the full burden falls on Richa, exposing the family’s casual misogyny: from Ashwin’s (Singh) insistence on hand-ground chutney to Diwakar’s dismissal of her exhaustion with lines like, “I work 12 hours, can’t I expect food on time?” Her dance aspirations fade as the sink leaks and the men grunt through meals, culminating in a quiet rebellion that echoes the original’s feminist fury but lacks its raw edge.

Sanya Malhotra is the film’s saving grace, delivering a nuanced performance that balances starry-eyed hope with simmering frustration. Her expressive eyes and subtle shifts—from eager bride to weary wife—carry the emotional load, earning her a Best Actress nod at the 2024 New York Indian Film Festival. Nishant Dahiya’s Diwakar is convincingly unlikeable, his shift from suitor to chauvinist chillingly gradual, while Kanwaljeet Singh’s stern Ashwin embodies patriarchal entitlement with quiet menace. Ghoshal’s Meena is a tragic enabler, but the script gives her little beyond subservience. The ensemble performs well, yet their roles feel too familiar, tethered to a template that doesn’t evolve.

Kadav, a visionary behind Cargo, keeps the narrative focused on Richa’s domestic prison, using food and the kitchen as potent metaphors for oppression—phulkas served hot, a dripping sink ignored. Pratham Mehta’s cinematography frames these scenes with a moody intimacy, and Sagar Desai’s score adds weight, though Faizan Hussain’s songs (like the jarring Karwa Chauth number) disrupt the flow. At 111 minutes, it’s tighter than many Bollywood outings, but the pacing sags in the middle, leaning too heavily on the original’s beats without adding cultural heft beyond Delhi license plates and Hindi inflections. The climax—Richa’s understated defiance—lacks the gut-punch of The Great Indian Kitchen’s catharsis, feeling more resigned than revolutionary.

Where “Mrs.” stumbles is its inability to justify its existence. The Malayalam original, streaming alongside it, hit harder with its unfiltered outrage and Nimisha Sajayan’s explosive lead turn. Kadav’s adaptation softens the blow, sanding down cultural specifics for a broader audience, but it sacrifices the visceral sting that made its source a landmark.

“Mrs.” isn’t a failure, it’s a decent watch with a vital message about everyday patriarchy, but it’s a pale echo of a bolder film. Malhotra’s brilliance can’t fully lift a remake that feels unnecessary when the original’s potency lingers so close. For newcomers, it’s a solid intro to the theme; for others, it’s a reheated dish that’s lost its spice.

Rating: 3/5

A well-acted but uninspired redo “Mrs.” serves feminism lite when it could’ve cooked up something fiercer.