Sonal Pandya
Mumbai, 10 Dec 2021 7:30 IST
Niilam Paanchal plays a woman whose life is defined by her role in the kitchen, until a stranger befriends her, and she begins to re-examine her life.
The unnamed protagonist of Vijaygiri Bava’s Gujarati film 21mu Tiffin (2021) is like many women across the country, whose unpaid labour runs the household. Here, however, the woman of the household also runs a tiffin service that her husband and 20-year-old daughter Neetal (Netrie) see as something to be endured.
Niilam Paanchal plays the protagonist who has to assume many roles in her life. She is a dutiful mother, wife, sister and daughter and is sometimes weighed down by these titles that define her. Paanchal’s character would continue with her life the same way, were it not for the arrival of the 21st tiffin by way of Dhruv (Raunaq Kamdar).
Dhruv is a young man who arrives in Ahmedabad for a six-month work internship. Rooming with three others like him, he comes upon their delicious home tiffin, which he insists he must have, too. Meanwhile, Neetal and her mother don’t have a particularly close relationship, which sours as the young woman is home on vacation from college. She remains grumpy and disrespectful towards her mother, especially when it comes to matters dealing with the tiffin service.
Already burdened with her ailing mother’s health and failing memory due to Alzheimer’s, plus her husband’s uncaring attitude towards any domestic matters, the protagonist initially turns down Dhruv’s request for a tiffin via her delivery man Bhanu. When he makes a personal visit to her home and compliments her cuisine, she has a change of heart.
But the addition of the 21st tiffin, and Dhruv’s company, brings about a profound change in her attitude and life. She begins to find joy in little things, including taking care of her appearance. Most importantly, the mother-daughter relationship improves as Neetal finally sees her mother as a person and begins to notice their life through her eyes.
Adapted from a short story in the Sahitya Akademi award-winning book Mahotu, Bava and author Raam Mori create an insightful look into the gender divides in most Indian households. Like the award-winning Malayalam film The Great Indian Kitchen (2021), another great feature that examined biased gender roles and patriarchy, 21mu Tiffin highlights how neglected and undervalued women can sometimes feel in their own homes.
Early scenes show that it’s always the women who have to clean up after the men, and more often than not, her husband’s attention is always elsewhere. Many times, she doesn’t even get to eat a proper meal, gathering leftovers from the vessels.
But while Bava’s feature rightfully spotlights this continuing inequality, it offers no way out for the women. Their place remains forever in the kitchen. Paanchal, as the protagonist, brings out all the shades of her character with refinement and feeling. Despite being surrounded by everyone, she is very lonely and the actress brings that across effectively.
Netrie as her daughter and Kamdar as the stranger-turned-friend are wonderful in their parts. The score, which has a lovely theme by Mehul Surti, does become a touch heavy-handed at times, especially during the finale, but that’s mostly because all the emotions in the film’s final minutes get suddenly dialled up a notch after being restrained for the most part.
But Bava’s feature has the emotions and meaning in line to tell its story, notably in its portrayal of the fluctuating relationships between mother and child over time. 21mu Tiffin has its heart in the right place.
21mu Tiffin (21st Tiffin) is being released in cinema halls today.