The Great Indian Kitchen director Jeo Baby plays misogynistic bro-in-law in short film

The Great Indian Kitchen writer-director Jeo Baby plays the same sort of condescending misogynist that he depicted in his movie, in a new short film titled Zero Drama. Written and directed by Anupriya Raj, the 18-minute film looks at a brief moment of tension in the life of a married couple.

While the woman works, her husband gives up his IT job to try and hack it as a director. In the midst of a morning of typical small domestic irritations, his sister and later brother-in-law arrive at the couple's house. The sister, in a passive aggressive manner and as a criticism of the couple’s lifestyle, goes about cleaning their home, washing their clothes and cooking lunch. The brother-in-law, played by Jeo Baby, is no less critical in his manner; irritated when the young wife sits down to lunch with the men and finding fault in all the household things, like the glass not being clean, there being no towel at the wash basin and the woman not cooking.

Will the young couple prove to be any different from the older couple is what the film looks at. Anupriya, who worked as an entertainment journalist, was apparently compelled by her own experiences as a young wife to make this simple, yet well-written film.

“I had this story that arose from not just my experiences, but also those of other women. And having interviewed directors and filmmakers for work, I felt that this could be made into a movie. And while it seemed a daunting task, not doing it gave me sleepless nights. I feel it is a story that has to be told in these times. It was only after I made it that I felt relaxed again,” she says.

The film features real-life couple Manu Pillai and Gayathri Manu Pillai, Reeba and Rikson. Dop- Harishankar is the DoP, editing is by Harigovind, music is by Roby Abraham and sound by Eldho Issac.Dop- harishankar