With Akshay Kumar making chhole, Catch masala ad on track to make kitchen more masculine, equal

The best thing about the Catch masala ad, which also stars Bhumi Pednekar, is that it makes no ‘statement’. It just normalises a man in a kitchen.

Illustration by Manisha Yadav | ThePrint

The latest Catch masala ad, starring Bhumi Pednekar and Akshay Kumar, finally nails it — showing a man in a kitchen.

Bhumi and Akshay portray a playful couple quibbling on a Sunday. The wife is annoyed — one doesn’t know why. The cook then calls, cancels, and now Bhumi is irked at the thought of spending weekend time in the kitchen and getting exhausted.

But doting husband Akshay steps in and makes some delicious chhole using Catch masala. Seeing this, Bhumi challenges Akshay by sliding over Catch biryani masala too, and the latter gracefully accepts it — the result is steaming bowls of chhole and biryani. Bhumi softens and asks her cook to take the following day off too when she is cut in by Kumar who tells the cook she doesn’t need to come back at all — the kitchen’s command is safe in his hands.

The best thing about the script is that it’s not written to make a ‘statement’. It just shows the routine life of an average couple and treats the presence of a man in the kitchen as something regular, no big deal.

While Akshay looks visibly older than Bhumi — a father-daughter dynamic would’ve been better suited for the cast — Catch gets the best ambassador in him. He is a professional chef too, and most Indians are aware of that fact.

A man in the kitchen

The portrayal of a man in a kitchen at home is very important to make Indian homes more equal and non-oppressive for women. Just showing women outside the house isn’t enough. To make the kitchen — I dare say — a masculine space, it is very important for men to wear the apron.

But advertising got it wrong earlier and caused much (unnecessary) furore and triggered debates in media classrooms and across popular circles.

One Airtel ad showing a boss wife, who comes home and cooks for her husband anyway, has triggered many debates on marital power dynamics and how it operates outside as well as inside the house. The biggest problem for commentators was that it established one thing: No matter what a woman does, at the end of the day, she owes servitude to her husband.

Generally, whenever masala, kitchen or home appliance brands choose to advertise their products in India, they choose a woman in the lead. So, Akshay Kumar in a masala ad is a good step in the right direction and also visually refreshing.

(Edited by Humra Laeeq)