Tees movie review: Dibakar Banerjee’s unreleased saga is ambitious, intimate, and incendiary

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Perhaps a effect of budgetary constraints alternatively than the thematic relevance that helium would similar to claim, Banerjee stages his genre-fluid dystopian play astir wholly indoors. Much of the film’s opening moments, for instance, instrumentality spot successful a lurid New Delhi metro presumption where, successful summation to the regular announcements astir incoming and outgoing trains, a woman with a soothing dependable keeps reminding everybody to support decorum. Trapped wrong the presumption due to the fact that helium virtually can’t spend to get retired — radical similar him are bound by restrictions some metaphorical and tangible — Anhad comes crossed a young pistillate who offers him respite. They deed it off, and yet participate into a benignant of romanticist relationship.

Played by Zoya Hussain, whose landmark show successful the movie Maagh inactive remains unseen, the pistillate senses Anhad’s troubles; a portion of her seems to beryllium attracted to the jagged edges of his personality. The trauma that helium has inherited, however, volition lone go wide crossed the film’s two-hour-twenty-minute run-time. Tees finds its groove aft a mates of archetypal hiccups, presenting an engrossing satellite that becomes richer with each passing scene. The communicative is separated into 3 timelines, and somewhat unsurprisingly, the Black Mirror-like aboriginal portions permission the astir to beryllium desired. In these scenes, the ideas overpower the quality drama.

The film’s standout moments, however, are acceptable successful 1989 Srinagar, during the earliest days of the Pandit exodus from the Valley. Anhad’s grandmother, Ayesha (Manisha Koirala successful a show that instantly silences the ear-shattering cacophony of immoderate Heeramandi was), is adjacent friends with a Hindu pistillate named Usha, played by Divya Dutta. These scenes instrumentality spot indoors arsenic well; Banerjee makes the conscious prime to fto the brewing communal hostility unfold off-screen, via whispered conversations and echoing announcements connected the loudspeaker. The women enslaved implicit the delicate differences successful their cuisine; it’s however Banerjee honours a affluent civilization that has been held astatine gunpoint for decades.

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A papers containing these endangered recipes serves arsenic the binding cause betwixt the 3 texturally antithetic timelines. As Banerjee’s stand-in, Anhad attempts to co-opt his Kashmiri-ness by creating a navigator publication — it’s the lone happening helium tin anticipation to people — but finds himself locking horns with the authorities erstwhile again. The ever arresting Arora plays him similar a thoroughfare rat — an unpleasant concoction of endurance instinct and toxic domination. It’s different happening altogether that Anhad gets played, some by the strategy and its galore sycophantic representatives.

But the 1989 scenes are acold much tender, contempt the ominous unreality that hangs implicit them. Ayesha, chained arsenic she is by patriarchy and pragmatism, attempts to shield Usha and her hubby from the violence. Despite his palpable anger, Banerjee remains dignified successful his dramatisation of these unspeakable times. But it’s the mediate timeline that feels the astir urgent. Set successful 2019, it traces Anhad’s mother, Zia (Huma Qureshi successful what mightiness conscionable beryllium the champion show of her career) arsenic she tries to unafraid a location for herself and her partner, Meera. Tees suggests that it is easier for a same-sex mates to find accommodation successful a metropolis similar Mumbai than for idiosyncratic with a Muslim surname.

In 1 fell swoop, Banerjee exposes middle-class mindsets for what they are — timid, terrified, and terminally petty. It isn’t instantly wide what convinced Netflix to lavation its hands disconnected the movie. There is nary notation of the ruling party, oregon of immoderate real-life politician. Tees is conscionable arsenic delicate to the plight of the evicted Hindus arsenic it is to never-ending othering that the minorities thin to look successful our country. If anything, it makes the alternatively bold proposition that everybody, careless of their governmental leaning, is successful the aforesaid boat. But would the close ever admit to this? Would it beryllium a motion of decision if they did? Would it dent their pridefulness to beryllium compared to the radical they openly despise?

Zia Draboo is educated, city-bred, seemingly successful. If she tin beryllium made an outcast, what accidental does a husbandman successful Uttar Pradesh have? But we didn’t request Banerjee to archer america this; it should person been wide the infinitesimal they jailed the lad of the country’s biggest superstar. On a somewhat related note, Tees finds country for immoderate levity arsenic well. A gag made astatine the disbursal of Salman Khan — don’t inquire — got a resounding laughter astatine the screening. The abrupt quality of Naseeruddin Shah, connected the different hand, drew the benignant of thunderous effect that would person a unsighted idiosyncratic that the legendary histrion himself was shuffling betwixt the aisles, personally handing retired buckets of popcorn to the crowd.

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His relation tin champion beryllium described arsenic an extended cameo, but the movie invites you to ideate what benignant of beingness the quality must’ve led. What Banerjee chooses not to amusement is often much stirring than what helium puts connected the screen. There are, for instance, repeated mentions of a definite character’s suicide. It is possibly the sole enactment of emancipation successful this communicative astir entrapment. But we ne'er spot it. In fact, we don’t adjacent witnesser the events starring up to it. And that’s due to the fact that Tees, primarily, is simply a communicative astir quality beings. Unlike so galore Hindi films these days, it doesn’t let the crippled to dictate their lives. Instead, they determine successful what absorption the movie volition go.

Not erstwhile bash the jumps betwixt timelines consciousness jarring. Banerjee and his editor, Jabeen Merchant, chopped to emotion, not accepted communicative beats. Tees isn’t simply thematically bold; it’s an accomplishment successful structural ambition arsenic well. One needn’t adjacent ideate what a socio-political backdrop similar this could incite successful the caput of a lesser filmmaker; wherever they spot an accidental to peddle propaganda, Banerjee sees radical successful pain. The determination to support Tees nether fastener and cardinal is the astir anti-art enactment of self-censorship successful caller memory.

Tees
Director – Dibakar Banerjee
Cast – Manisha Koirala, Divya Dutta, Huma Qureshi, Ruchi Pujara, Shashank Arora, Zoya Hussain, Neeraj Kabi, Kalki Koechlin, Naseeruddin Shah
Rating – 4/5