‘We behave the same way, irrespective of how educated we are’

Written by Ektaa Malik | Published: December 14, 2017 12:02 am A still from Juice (above); Neeraj Ghaywan

It’s a middle-class household, complete with a plastic air cooler and an over-stuffed sofa with white lace covers. There is the mandatory white porcelain sink in the corner. These are the living quarters of Mr and Mrs Singh, who are in the middle of hosting a “get together” for all of Mr Singh’s male colleagues and their spouses. Over chicken legs, kebabs and a variety of chakhna, the all male gathering is discussing the ramifications of having a new female boss. Manju — played by Shefali Shah — is the dutiful hostess, who sweeps off chicken bones, used napkins, fills up the cooler with water and greets guests with unwavering efficiency.

This is the opening scene of Juice, a new short film directed by filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan. The film which stars actors Shefali Shah and Manish Chaudhary in the lead roles, touches upon the issues of male entitlement, inherent patriarchy and how women internalise patriarchy without a second thought. One sees all the men sitting in the obvious comfort of an air cooler, drinking and opining about things as varied as Donald Trump, difference between the anatomies of men and women and secularism, whereas all the women are holed up in a dark kitchen with zero ventilation and are handling the cooking, cleaning and supervising of children without any complaints. “But this inherent practice, where women accept this role of being relegated to the kitchen, is not just restricted to small towns. I have also seen these in the so called educated, urbane set up of Mumbai as well,” says Ghaywan, who recalls an impromptu dinner at his house where he had invited some of his assistant directors (ADs). There, one of them who was newly married, got his wife along. “I love to cook and I was cooking, he (the AD) kept gesturing his wife to help me out. He could have come and offered to help, but he did not. And of course, we have seen our mothers subjected to the same patriarchy. In the formative years, that acceptance of patriarchy was conscious, now as we have grown up, it’s subconscious. We behave the same way, irrespective of how liberal and educated we are,” elaborates Ghaywan. “And it’s so rampant and entrenched — the men eat first, then the children. It’s now no longer about patriarchy, but a habit. We need to shake that up,” he further adds.

This is Ghaywan’s third short film, after the much acclaimed first one titled Shor and later, The Epiphany. His first feature film, Masaan, found critical acclaim globally. “There’s this perception in India, that once you make a feature film, you stop making short films. But successful directors, worldover, continue to make films in this medium. Mostly because some stories lend themselves better to this frame. Also, the liberty and freedom to explore is much more,” adds Ghaywan, the winner of Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film at the National Awards in 2016.

For Ghaywan, Juice, which is available on YouTube, comes from a deeply personal space and experience. The film, in its essence, reflects the small town upbringing that Ghaywan had. “I was born and brought up in a middle-class Maharashtrian family in Hyderabad. And Hyderabad may not seem like a small town, but as my father was a researcher and he worked with crops, we lived on the outskirts of the city,” shares Ghaywan, who holds an electrical engineering degree and an MBA.

Food and cooking are central to the narrative of the film. Be it the chicken legs, the baingan which Shah is trying to roast for the bharta, or the flour that is being kneaded for the pooris. “We — especially those of us who have lived away from our parents — romanticise this idea of ma ke haath ka khaana and how ma ka pyaar is the one thing that makes it special. But what we don’t realise is that there would have been so many times when the food has been cooked with a lot of anger. Woh pyaar se nahin, bahut seh ke bana hai,” says Ghaywan.

The film and the filmmaker have been accused of perpetuating misandry through the portrayal of men in it. “That’s the classic — not all men are like that. But I don’t agree that this doesn’t happen anymore, and it might not happen in your specific strata or clique but it’s happening within a five kilometre radius. Look at Indian kitchens — they are small, with almost no ventilation and there is never a fan. The argument presented is gas band ho jayegi. But you can have a fan which is directed away from the flame, right? But no one thinks of these basics because women don’t matter, their needs don’t matter,” he says.

Ghaywan is the youngest of four children and has three elder sisters. He adds that it’s his middle-class and rooted upbringing that helps him base his stories in a real world. “Every weekend my sisters would watch these Shyam Benegal, Mani Kaul films, as opposed to Amitabh Bachchan, and I got interested. Also, I feel that the issue and the subject matter take centre stage these days, but the craft and the art of filmmaking takes a back seat. The narrative also becomes secondary, and everything — including execution of the story — is excused because, well, the issue is so important,” says Ghaywan, who is now busy with finalising the story for his second film. “The first film was comparatively easy, but the pressure you face for the second film — it’s indescribable,” he says.

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