English Vinglish, a feel-good movie that holds a very special place in my heart. Throughout the film, we experience a beautiful journey with Shashi Godbole (Sridevi). We see the courage, confidence and character develop throughout the film. This film shows the strength of the woman who holds her dignity, overcomes problems and tries her hardest.
This film shows the role of a woman. A role which is often overlooked in everyday life. Roles of those wives, mothers, sisters which add so much to the lives of those around them. The implicit portrayal of female bonding, issues of equality, class consciousness, adult friendships or gay identity –English Vinglish includes all of it, within its simple story. I believe that it is one of the most inclusivist films from the Indian film industry.
English Vinglish is, in utterly plain terms, a film about language. It is concerned with the biases that privilege English speakers over others, and what these biases say about the under-interrogated prejudices we have. Shashi was introduced to us as an affectionate and dedicated wife, daughter in law, mother and businesswoman.
Food acts as a language as well. It is another tongue through which Shashi cannot be properly understood, especially by the people she loves most. Cooking occupies a subordinate tier to her husband’s office work. Her world revolved around her family, and her love for making and sharing ladoos. Her family in India and New York, both loved her ladoos the second they ate it. Shashi took immense pride in this talent. Outside of her classmates, she found respect amongst people she used to sell her ladoos to.
In a regular conversation, right after everybody tasted Shashi's special ladoos, Satish, Shashi's husband, said, "You know, Kevin, these are the best ladoos you will ever eat. And my wife... She was born to make ladoos." While everybody in the room laughed, Radha, and even Shashi's little son, Sagar, felt bad for her. They felt bad for her existence resulting in her identity being reduced to a simple task, not considering everything else that she is and can do. Although, was this statement really an insult to Shashi? Or was Satish appreciative of his wife's talent? It seems simpler to look at this statement as an insult because of the context in which we saw Satish, as a husband who did not truly respect his wife. He was an alpha-male who saw his wife's potential limited to the four walls of the house, and nothing beyond making food and taking care of the family.
English class endows Shashi with new vocabulary for self-identification: When she tells her teacher that she runs her own snack business, he calls her an entrepreneur. This seems strangely surprising to Shashi because our minds have been conditioned over the years to create a role for a woman. Would we have considered this line to be an insult if it was about something apart from cooking? "And my wife.. She was born to make statues" or "And my wife... She was born to become a surgeon." The idea of cooking being a task associated with women because of the gender norms, is ingrained in our minds. These implications put onto genders created restrictions and even worse boundaries, outside of which things feel out of reach.
Shashi, took pride in her ladoos and saw the kind of happiness her ladoos brought in people's lives, felt like a failure after hearing her husband. But isn't cooking an art form? Is being 'born to make ladoos' really an insult or something that Shashi should be proud of? Maybe if these gender roles didn’t exist, if we were not bound by societal expectations of women it might seem normal. If the same thing were said to a man today, it would not be considered an insult right?
It’s changing now, to a great extent where even a young boy like Sagar considered this an insult. These ideas, questions and thoughts are what make me love this movie even more. The depth of the themes discussed is immense but it still feels so good to watch it. If you have not watched this movie I definitely recommend it.
Movie: English Vinglish, 2012
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