Neeraj Ghaywan's Juice takes just 15 minutes to deliver a hard-hitting message on patriarchy

Neeraj Ghaywan uses everyday incidents, which go unnoticed, to highlight male entitlement

Shalini Ojha
Nov 23, 2017

Neeraj Ghaywan has proved you really don’t need a three-hour long feature film to realistically show pressing issues plaguing the society, the same can be done in just fifteen minutes. His short film Juice, starring Shefali Shah is one such marvellous piece of cinema which takes patriarchy head-on and makes a lingering impact.

Set in the household of the Singhs, Manju (Shefali Shah) and her husband (Manish Prakash Chaudhari) invite a few guests over. The setting agrees with every Indian household- men sitting in the living room, relishing their whiskeys and munching on snacks while discussing everything from how Akbar died to Hillary Clinton’s house. And the ladies, who, despite the unbearable, sweltering heat, dedicatedly preparing sumptuous snacks for their husbands. In stark contrast to what men discuss, the conversations of women revolve around pregnancy, raising children and their unfulfilled career aspirations.

Neeraj Ghaywan uses everyday incidents, which go unnoticed, to highlight male entitlement like – a daughter being asked by her mother to serve dinner to her brothers, because that is the kind of stuff they should learn, and a pregnant woman being told by fellow colleagues why leaving the job after bringing a child into this world is the best service to motherhood.

Also read: This week’s must-watch recommendation: The award-winning short film, Syaahi

Shefali Shah does an exemplary job in portraying an educated Indian housewive who was forced to quit her career to raise kids. The unexpected climax of the film will force you to think why we never realised patriarchy was the first meal served to us?

Juice has garnered some really amazing reactions on Twitter. Here are a few of them:

Featuring the fantastic @ShefaliShah_, this is the ‘film’ straight out of our lives. @miyaamihir described it as: “आइये, अपने-अपने घरों के बैठकखानों में लौट चलें। और रसोइयों में। और इनके बीच पसरी पीढ़ियों लंबी दूरियों में।” #Juice

— वरुण (@varungrover) November 23, 2017

This is lovely by @ghaywan https://t.co/65Oyvhuf3a

— Tanmay Bhat (@thetanmay) November 22, 2017

A super-sensitive short film by @ghaywan that captures our patriarchal indifference and the emotions of what almost every educated Indian woman would have experienced at some point in her life. This one’s getting forwarded to every woman in my family!#Juice #patriarchy #fb https://t.co/fXdnkk6c8o

— Pallavi | پلّوی (@palinaama) November 23, 2017

Dear @ghaywan , thank you for this. सोच बदलने की ताक़त है इस #Juice में. To the mothers & women whom we owe more than we’d ever know https://t.co/0DEzauXGpF

— Mister Chang (@MeiyangChang) November 23, 2017

If you have 15 minutes to spare today, spend them watching this fabulous short. movie.
Here’s #JUICE, a short film with @ShefaliShah_.
A take on male entitlement and internalized patriarchy.
https://t.co/pxEz7t86ys

— Kumar Nachiket (@kumaar_nachiket) November 22, 2017