“Do you remember my cycle?” asks a girl to her mother as she helps her cut vegetables for sambar. The girl grouses, “You’d only remember if I ever had one." Vishwakiran Nambi’s 10-minute-short film The Kitchen which is currently being screened at the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival, speaks about gender roles in a patriarchal society through dance. Vishwakiran has explored complex subjects like religion and identity in his previously choreographed act Pyre. His debut short film was born out of his mother’s lived experiences.
Set in the 1980s, the short film shows a south Indian household in Karnataka where four women—Shruti Suresh, Ashwathy Manoharan, Namitha B Rao, Maithri Rao — of different ages are engaged in different activities in and around the kitchen. While cooking, they make minimal conversation which sets the premise for the choreography that follows. Through the four women, the director explores different stories and emotions.
As the film progresses, the women are seen voicing concerns about subjects ranging from gender disparity to the sexual abuse that they face. The riveting music embodies the anger bubbling within the women over the discrimination they face and the subservient status ascribed to them in a patriarchal society. Nambi, the director as well as the choreographer, denotes this through a mix of contemporary dance and Bharatanatyam, through the experience of cooking.
While the performances from the four women are very graceful and sharp, it is elevated by the light play through the film. While the women are conversing and cooking, the lighting is kept soft and mellow as opposed to when they are performing. The spotlight which accentuates their expressions and mudras give the audience a clear view of what the characters are trying to emote. The music also complements the performances of the women. Despite the simple plotline and minimal dialogues, the film compels one to question the patriarchal mindset and also retrospect and ponder the same. The costume and the setting have been meticulously designed to portray the period; the costumes are also used to convey the ages of women, and what stage of life they’re at. The film’s non-linear exploration of binary norms and gender discrimination from birth is intriguing.
From the very first shot of the film, the director delves into how the women are constantly limited to their homes and the responsibility of the household chores fall on them. The men are absolved of the same. In spite of social progress, the women are largely expected to manage the house while also working at a job. This makes the film resonate across generations in the sub-continent.
Nambi shows how the society tries to limit and block a woman’s vision through his choreography. This choreography follows a dialogue between mother and daughter, when the latter asks what the patriarchy wanted. In the dance sequence, the girl is seen attempting to view the world but her sight is constantly limited, distressing her until she finally gives up. As the choreography begins, the music gets tense, evoking a similar sentiment among the audience. The music picks pace whenever the dance sequences begin. With such sharp lighting difference and music, the director ensures that the audience feels the unsettling anger simmering among the women.
While the younger daughter represents the discrimination women face from birth until they become adolescents, the older one represents the sexual harassment that women face. The woman avoids going to a temple to avoid running into her abuser. She just begins expressing her displeasure when the director shows a male figure entering and everything is softened. The scene again transitions into a dance sequence wherein all four emote their anger over how the women are constantly told to show servility towards the men around them.
However, it is the film’s cyclical nature that serves as the icing on the cake. The film begins with the matriarch entering the kitchen alone and leaving the kitchen alone at the end. It seems that the other women were embodiments of the matriarch at different ages, and how through the years, she has compromised on her aspirations in the patriarchal society. The cyclical narration shows how other women find resonance within the story of one woman.
Nambi’s inquisitiveness to understand whether the kitchen was a space where his mother felt free or oppressive is evident. His dilemma seeps in the film at different junctures when the women are voicing their dissent and depict their anger over having to curtail themselves or be curtailed by societal pressure. When a man enters the kitchen, there’s a shift in the behaviour of the women who soften and cover-up, showing how the kitchen was their space to speak up even as the society keeps silencing them.
Despite being a period short film, it is still relevant. Women are expected to take on the nurturing role even today, and the onus of preventing sexual harassment falls on them. The film, despite being based on an individual's personal experience, holds a mirror to society without seeming forced.
To watch the film, register here. The BISFF will be ending on September 5.