What’s cooking?
Homosexuality in India is still a salty subject. It is hard for LGBTQ+ members to be themselves when patriarchal rules dictate that heterosexual relationships can be the only norm and everything else is “unnatural.” When assumptions are purely heterosexual, it is harder for LGBTQ+ members to come out, even to people who are closest to them.
Macher Jhol or Fish Curry is a short film by Abhishek Verma that portrays the coming out of Lalit, who prepares a spicy fish curry to announce his sexuality and his relationship with Ashutosh. Set in an Indian context, it is a pure male lens of depicting gay relationships, the anxious process of coming out, and familial expectations from cis-men.
Coming out is not easy and rarely direct. People always leave hints, but they are seldom noticed. Throughout the short film, there are subtle hints about the shared intimacy of Lalit and Ashutosh. There are pictures on the table, a bottle on the side that reads “little love,” a nude portrait of Ashutosh on the wall that Lalit’s father wholly ignored, and Lalit’s apparent disinterest in marriageable women.
Macher Jhol or fish curry is a popular, flavourful dish enjoyed with rice in the Indian states of Odisha and Bengal. Lalit’s fish curry becomes a catalyst for his coming out. As the aroma wafts through Lalit, he finds himself drifting into fantasies of touches on a clean-shaven face and sensual longings for stolen kisses. Macher Jhol is made tender.
With an activity as simple as eating, Macher Jhol captures all emotions – intimacy, anxiety, the delicious combination of fish and rice that easily gulps down the throat, and the hard-to-swallow information about a son coming out as gay.
The color tone of the short film is subdued, almost black and white. The only contrasts are mustard yellows for fish gravy and a stark red Bindi on Lalit’s mother’s forehead. It also captures parental aspirations of having grandchildren subtly portrayed through life’s daily mundane interactions with other people.
Macher Jhol leaves a lot unsaid. There’s no promise or rebellion to challenge the status quo, but a soft power and a way for gay people to come out in a system that often works against them. With simple drawings, Abhishek Verma wonderfully captures the essence of queer love and gives space for gay lovers to find an expression in animated format.
