Speaking The Same Language

The recent success of The Great Indian Kitchen on Neestream puts the spotlight on single-language OTT platforms that cater to a niche, but growing audience base. Can they take on the streaming giants in India?

- Divya J Shekhar

On January 15, a nondescript Malayalam film made on a shoestring budget of ₹2 crore caught the eye of the nation. It was around the time actor Kamal Haasan’s political party Makaal Needhi Maiam in Tamil Nadu sparked controversy with a manifesto pledge ahead of the upcoming state elections, promising monthly wages to housewives in recognition of their domestic labour. Economists pointed out that this might not only be difficult to implement, but it might also, more dangerously, reinforce gender stereotypes and deter women from seeking employment outside the home.

Filmmaker Jeo Baby’s The Great Indian Kitchen, released just a week after this debate, addressed this very issue of the invisibility and lack of recognition to unpaid domestic work, and the everyday sexism women have to deal with at home. The film was praised almost universally by critics for its nuance, sensitivity and how it fiercely crafts a takedown of patriarchy. This was also a film that was rejected by almost every major OTT platform and TV channel out there.

Baby tells