In India, the home has long been sanctified as a space beyond scrutiny: a pocket universe governed by its own rules, obligations, silences, and unspoken hierarchies. It is also, for many women, a space of profound vulnerability. The marital home, in particular, carries the weight of social expectation so dense that violations committed within it are routinely absorbed into the insistence for normalcy; unnamed and therefore unchallenged.

India remains one of the few democracies in the world where marital rape is not a criminal offence. This is a legal blind spot that reflects, with uncomfortable clarity, how deeply the idea of wifely consent — garbed in the rhetoric of ‘duty’ — has been subordinated to the institution of marriage itself. In a society where a woman’s body is still widely understood as a conjugal entitlement, naming what happens within the bedroom as violence requires not only legal reform but a fundamental cultural reckoning that cinema and storytelling are uniquely positioned to catalyse. Surprisingly, a mainstream Indian series is doing exactly that. Based on Bengali web series 'Sampurna', SVF Entertainment’s ‘Chiraiya’, now streaming on JioHotstar, is subverting the quintessential Hindi family drama to confront the issue of marital rape, which looms over many Indian marriages.

This month’s Homegrown watchlist sits at the intersection of the intimate and the political. Across four very different films and series, the common thread is interiority: characters forced to confront what they have accepted, endured, or buried, and the slow, painful work of surfacing it. Whether it’s a young wife naming her trauma in ‘Chiraiya’, an elderly couple excavating five decades of unspoken truths in ‘Jab Khuli Kitaab’, or two strangers on a date feeling their way toward honesty in ‘Halves’, these stories insist on the radical act of being seen.

A Hindi remake of the Bengali webseries ‘Sampurna’, SVF Entertainment’s ‘Chiraiya’ is a timely series about one of the most contentious legal issues of modern India: marital rape. The series subverts the familiar format of an Indian family drama to confront the subject head on: when newly-married Pooja (Prasanna Bisht) confides in her sister-in-law Kamlesh (Divya Dutta) that her husband, Kamlesh’ brother-in-law, Arun (Siddharth Shaw) forced himself on her on their wedding night, Kamlesh’s world is turned upside down — forcing her to confront uncomfortable truths within her own family. Watch ‘Chiraiya’ here.

Saurabh Shukla’s ‘Jab Khuli Kitaab’ (based on Shukla’s eponymous stageplay) follows the unravelling of elderly couple Gopal and Anusuya’s five-decades-long marriage when Anusuya reveals a long-buried secret. Chaos and buried emotions force the couple (played by Pankaj Kapur and Dimple Kapadia) to face love and forgiveness as Gopal seeks divorce. Watch ‘Jab Khuli Kitaab’ here.

Set in Kumaon, Uttarakhand, Sambit Dattachaudhuri’s ‘Days in the Forest’ explores the nature of existence within a Himalayan forest. The short film exists within a lineage of global cinema like Satyajit Ray’s ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ and Peter Weir’s 1975 Australian classic ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ in which the forest landscape takes on an active, unsettling role. At its core, it is a reflection on storytelling, memory, and the tense encounter between urban life and the elemental world. Watch ‘Days in the Forest’ here.

As a young man and woman go on their second date, the lingering question from their intimate encounter leads them on a soul-searching journey. Through conversations about culture, art, and their past, they explore the depths of their innermost thoughts, questioning the transience of love in an ever-changing world. Divyanshu Asopa’s ‘Halves’ is a perfect weekday evening watch for fans of Richard Linklater’s ‘Before’ trilogy who love quiet, conversational films that feel like a peek into real people’s personal lives. Watch ‘Halves’ here.

If you enjoyed reading this, here’s more from Homegrown:

Sweet Dreams In Urdu, 70s’ Disco, & More: A Deep-Dive Into Riz Ahmad’s ‘Bait’ Soundtrack

Short Film ‘The Lunchbox’ Unpacks Identity, Colourism, & Growing Up Indian Abroad

Ankur Hooda’s ‘The Calf Doll’ Examines The Erosion Of Rural Life Through Grief