Mrs. Director Arati Kadav: ‘My Next is a Sci-Fi Story with a Bit of Magic’

Director Arati Kadav shifts from drama Mrs to heartfelt sci-fi, blending human emotions with magic

Mrs. director Arati Kadav is already working on a science fiction story for her next production. Although this may seem like a significant departure from the film’s emotional drama, Kadav claims that the lessons she took away from the experience will have a significant impact on her upcoming work.

In the film Mrs., starring Sanya Malhotra, a young bride battles against patriarchal expectations that jeopardise her identity and marriage. Even though the genres are distinct, Kadav thinks Mrs.’s emotional depth will translate to her science fiction project.

“I learned so much about human emotions while making Mrs,” Kadav shares. “My next film will have a lot of human drama because that has to be at the center of my stories. It will be a heartfelt sci-fi story, a character drama with a bit of magic.”

This won’t be Kadav’s first attempt at sci-fi. Her debut feature, Cargo (2019), was also in the same genre. However, this new project promises to blend the emotional storytelling of Mrs with the imaginative world of science fiction.

Meanwhile, Mrs, an adaptation of the Malayalam film The Great Indian Kitchen (2021), has received both praise and criticism. While many appreciated the film, some viewers felt it stayed too close to the original, including iconic scenes like the climax where the protagonist pours dirty water on her husband after he ignores her repeated requests to fix a broken pipe.

Kadav admits she wanted to make changes to the climax and other scenes. “I was constantly trying to deviate from the original,” she says. “I added the character of Vedprakash, the domestic help, to make it more realistic for a doctor’s family.”

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However, producer Harman Baweja advised her to keep the storytelling simple and powerful. “Harman told me the film works because of its simplicity. If we tried to make it complicated, we would lose its impact,” Kadav explains. The goal was to make Mrs accessible to a wider audience, especially those who hadn’t seen the original.

In retrospect, Kadav admits she would have changed the movie a little bit to allay the complaints that it was too much like the original. Overall, though, she is pleased with the movie and eager to use the knowledge she gained to her upcoming project, a science fiction tale that is dramatic, emotional, and little magical.

With Mrs leaving a mark and her new project on the horizon, Arati Kadav is proving to be a versatile and thoughtful filmmaker, ready to explore new worlds while staying true to her love for human stories.

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