‘I made Sanya’s character a bit like me–little milder, putting herself out there’

Tejal Sinha

Arati Kadav, known for her distinctive storytelling and emotionally charged narratives, is currently basking in the success of her latest film, Mrs. The film, an adaptation of the critically acclaimed Malayalam movie The Great Indian Kitchen, has resonated deeply with audiences, sparking conversations about gender roles, marriage and self-discovery. As the film continues to engage viewers, Kadav reflects on her creative journey of adapting the original work, the motivations behind her choices and her experience working with lead actress Sanya Malhotra.
“I’m really happy with the conversation and dialogue,” says Kadav with a tone of genuine gratitude in this exclusive chat with The Pioneer. “It’s just nice to see that people are responding and connecting to the film so much.” She elaborates on her initial feelings about adapting the original Malayalam film for a North Indian audience, admitting that while she was excited, she also felt apprehensive. “Initially, when we were planning to adapt this for North India, I was apprehensive because I’m a huge fan of the original. But I felt it needed to be slightly more accessible,” she explains. “My mother, for instance, is a typical audience for a story like this, and I knew she would connect with it.”
The desire to broaden the film’s appeal, especially to younger viewers, also influenced her casting decisions. “I just felt that we could go wider with it. We could cast someone whom young girls really relate to. For example, Sanya Malhotra—she’s someone many young girls see themselves in. That was the idea behind adapting it.”By blending universal truths with her personal voice, she has created a film that resonates with audiences on a profound level, demonstrating her unique gift as a filmmaker.
For Kadav, Mrs. was deeply personal. Having seen similar experiences unfold in North India, she felt compelled to tell this story from her own perspective. “North India has a lot of these small, small things that I’ve seen firsthand. I felt it was important to tell this story from my perspective,” she explains. “This is a very burning, very urgent story. I wanted my mother to watch it and I wanted other women, who may not be open to watching a Malayali film, to be able to connect with it.”
Adapting a beloved film with such a dedicated fan base was not without its challenges. Kadav acknowledged that audiences, particularly those who engage with films online, often have strong emotional attachments to the original. “When you remake a film that people have a strong relationship with, it’s always a bigger challenge,” she notes. “The question was, how do we break that challenge?” To overcome this, Kadav and her team focused on maintaining a high standard of technical quality while also staying true to the core honesty of the story.
“I made it with a lot of honesty, sincerity and love,” she explains. “I’m telling the story of my aunts, my cousins, my Didi—people I admire. I’ve met young girls, whom I never thought would go through something like this, but they are. I wanted to tell their stories with the honesty they deserve.”
She also reflected on the responsibility she felt toward the women who shared their experiences during the research phase of the film. “For the sacredness of the relationship I had with these girls who were honest enough to open up to me, I thought I should also be honest with my work when I make it for them,” she says, emphasising the deep sense of duty she felt toward those whose stories she was telling.
Speaking of her collaboration with Sanya Malhotra, Kadav couldn’t help but praise the actress for her dedication and emotional range. “Sanya is a director’s dream. She prepares so hard, brings so much sincerity and depth to her character. She had diary entries for every scene and met many women to truly empathise with them,” Kadav shares. “Her empathy was so high that she was crying along with them, listening to their stories. She brought that empathy into this role.”
Kadav also spoke about the physically and emotionally demanding nature of the role for Sanya. “It was a very intense role, not just emotionally, but in terms of the shoot itself. I was shooting it like a theater piece, making them do big, big scenes in one go. I would take multiple retakes until I got the right vibe of the scene,” she reveals. “There’s one scene where Sanya is eating cassata ice cream. We did five or six takes for that, so she must have eaten three or four ice creams for that scene alone. In every take, the ice cream became worse and worse and we channeled that into the scene.”
Kadav also highlighted Sanya’s authenticity, noting that the actress doesn’t rely on tricks like glycerin to evoke tears. “She doesn’t pretend to be sad—she actually feels it. As we progressed, Sanya became deeply affected by the role. She had to detach herself sometimes and remind herself it’s just a role, but she was so emotionally invested that she felt it deeply. She would say, ‘I can’t believe this happens to real girls.’”
The adaptation also brought with it some narrative shifts. While the original film revolves around the Sabarimala Temple ruling, Kadav made a deliberate choice to shift the focus toward a dance troupe and YouTube channel. “For me, the whole story had a stronger POV of this girl who’s enthusiastic about her own passion,” Kadav explains. “We really wanted to bring her passion to the forefront—just like how she keeps going back to cooking, we wanted her to keep going back to her passion for dancing and making videos.”
Kadav further reflected on the emotional core of the film, particularly a pivotal moment where Sanya’s character is asked to erase her videos. “When someone asked her to delete the videos, it felt like asking her to erase her complete identity,” she says adding, “In Mrs., we didn’t adapt the Sabarimala plotline, as it didn’t resonate with North Indian audiences. However, we touched on Karva Chauth, a festival that symbolises patriarchy and subtly questioned its underlying norms without going too extreme.”
As the film progresses, Kadav’s personal voice continues to influence the narrative. She reflects on how her own perspective shaped certain key moments, particularly scenes that felt particularly personal. “There were a lot of elements that I thought were very unique to the adaptation. Especially in the scenes where Sanya is looking at herself in the mirror or trying to dance—those moments felt very personal to me.”
She also shared that the excitement, sweetness and vulnerability of Sanya’s character were reflective of her own experiences. “The whole point of view—the excitement, the sweetness, the way she’s still seeking validation—was very much a part of my personality too. I made Sanya a bit like me, just a little milder. She’s trying to impress, she’s understanding, and she’s putting herself out there.”
Among Kadav’s favourite scenes is one where Sanya visits a friend’s house, gets drunk and laughs uncontrollably. “That was a uniquely personal moment. It felt like it was our own—it truly reflected both the character and my own connection to her.”
When asked about a scene every man in India should watch, Kadav offered a simple yet profound perspective: “Just one day in the life of that character,” she said. “It could be any day because so often, we don’t see what women do. A lot of their work is invisible. Men go to the office, their work is visible. But women—especially those we label as housewives—are doing so much. In Mrs., the scene where Sanya is upset but continues working encapsulates this. Men often take a break when they’re upset, but women don’t have that luxury—they have to keep going.”
Looking ahead, Kadav revealed that she is working on several new projects, including a few science fiction scripts that maintain a deep emotional connection. “I’m working on a few scripts right now. Some in the science fiction genre, but with a very deep emotional connect. You’ll hear about them soon.”
With Mrs., Kadav has once again proven her exceptional ability to craft narratives that are not only engaging and deeply poignant but also grounded in real-life experiences.