Maacher Jhol: The Special Meal

Image source: The Fish Curry Maacher Jhol, Mubi

Mubi India recently released a 12-minute long film, Maacher Jhol: The Fish Curry. It has found its place in the world of OTT five years after its release. What is interesting about this film is that each frame is hand drawn. It took 570 days for the creators to start and finish the process. The story is about a man in his thirties coming out to his dad over a very intimate supper. He prepares his dad’s favourite dish—Maacher Jhol. Nothing too deep or overtly dramatic is taking place. It is a simple supper with an even simpler storyline. But it is important. ‘Fish’ has its symbols.

When I think of 'coming out' films, they are more often than not, dramatic, sad, they give birth to a lifelong conflict, and sometimes a satisfying resolution takes place. All of those films attempt to choose, very loudly, 'doing something nobody has done before'. Beginners, by Mike Mills, is one such example. It's the dad unexpectedly coming out after his wife passes away. It is wholesome, with all the characters having faith in love. With all of them, just beginning to love. Classic Hollywood!

What we see in Maacher Jhol, on the other hand, is not the faith in romantic love. There isn't enough time to establish that. On the screen here is an anxious thirty year old Lalit looking for the best rohu fish in Delhi. It is a very simple act of pleasing his father. The 'doing something nobody has done before', in this case, is in them having a talk over a special meal.

Image source: The Fish Curry Maacher Jhol, Mubi

My partner says to me, "You shouldn’t have to come out to your parents for me. I would love being your best friend when they are around." And when my parents are around, she is the best friend my mom trusts and my dad loves. She talks to them like she knows me, but not really. But what my mom loves about her is that she knows me more than any other friend. And I imagine going on to my thirties, with the same partner, with my parents still knowing nothing.

I see Lalit and Ashutosh sharing the same dynamics. They are in love, have stayed together for years and the family has known Ashutosh as only their son's roommate. Lalit, in the film, finally gathers the courage to let his dad know what he should have known long ago. And he does it in a way he would have done as a kid–by pleasing his dad. What happens later is still out of the story.

During that conversation, we observe the room with his father. And we too see, for the first time, what has always been there. Love and queerness.