The Shaila(S) movie review: Kaneez Surkha, Neha RT's short is a clever satire on class and caste discrimination

Language: English, Hindi

"I never understood why she left me after everything I did for her," thinks Lexi Makhija (Kaneez Surkha) to herself upon discovering that her live-in domestic help, Lakshmi (Suman Patel), had left her apartment without intimation. It's an oft-repeated statement at home (mine, yours, everyone's), one made without realising that no one ever desires a life of servitude and submission.

Lexi acutely lacks this awareness. She is consumed by a singular, albeit trivial desire to host the best, most lavish tea party in her social circle. She waxes eloquent about the opulence she has experienced at every friend's house. One throws a party with an expensive tea set, another with flower bouquets made entirely out of Rs 2,000 bills, and one friend has "not two, not three, not four, but five maids to one teacup." The visuals of these situations are amusing, though not entirely unlikely. Never underestimate the eccentricities of wealthy people with large disposable incomes.

For her mission to have a tea party, Lexi has everything at hand, just not the perfect candidate who can assist her. The story circles back to the time before Lexi employs Lakshmi, and how she hires and fires 12 ladies within two months. "A good maid is like finding a man in your forties. A fucking unicorn," she says until Lakshmi arrives at her doorstep.

Patel's Lakshmi is always kept at an arm's length, an all too familiar practice. Even her personhood is quickly dismissed when Lexi rechristens her as "Shaila." She is scrutinised from head to toe: "Her hair was free of lice. Her nails were clipped short, no dirty nail polish. The locket was not a good sign. Did she have a boyfriend? Only one way to know, check for the waxed upper lip." However, the short does not even cover half of the mistreatment that women domestic workers face —sexual exploitation, harassment, and trafficking.

The Shaila(S), in comical manner, pinpoints how profoundly ingrained the idea of othering is  — the "yes" and "no" labels for food in Lexi's fridge, how Laksmi is asked to use the "servants lift," and how uncomfortable Lexi is when her friend asks Lakshmi to take a seat on the couch.

Despite the class differences, the two happen to share a brief moment of camaraderie, where Lakshmi (Shaila) becomes an outlet for Lexi to talk about being emotionally abandoned by her husband. Despite being othered and excluded, the domestic help often becomes an important part of the family they work for, and are in the know about the deepest, darkest secrets.

In a turn of events, however, the social hierarchy is thrown off balance. Lakshmi gets her foot in the door to exact a better work life — they are bare minimum requests, like taking period leaves or sleeping in the AC. Lexi complies reluctantly. It is a contest of power between the two women, but one is more dependent on the other. After all, the D-day was close, and losing out on Lakshmi's help is out of question.

Surkha embodies the classist, vacuous South Bombay socialite perfectly. There is precisely nothing to like about Lexi, not even when she makes the small reluctant gesture of celebrating Lakshmi's birthday, or even when she is desperately lonely, and in need for companionship. This characterisation ably holds up a mirror to what's wrong in our society.

The Shaila(S), written, directed, and produced by Neha RT, bluntly tackles the issues of caste and class discrimination in Indian society. There's nothing much to read between the lines. Though some scenes, for the sake of adding humour to the narrative, are exaggerated, they are impactful. The message is blatantly out there and in your face: we are a messed up society, comfortable in maintaining social barriers.

The Shaila(S) is streaming on Voot Select.

Rating: ***

by Devki Nehra