Dibakar Banerjee's ‘Tees': A muted masterpiece?

India Today

05-06-2025

(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated June 9, 2025)It had all the makings of a triumph—an acclaimed director, a powerhouse cast, and a standing ovation at the film's first Indian screening at the Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) last year. Dibakar Banerjee's Tees drew cinephiles from across the country. Yet, the celebration carried the weight of heartbreak. In 2023, Netflix—the platform that had commissioned Tees in 2019 and to whom Banerjee delivered it in 2022—had quietly pulled the plug on its release, effectively locking away a film that deserved to be seen.advertisementLed by Naseeruddin Shah, Manisha Koirala, Huma Qureshi, Shashank Arora, Zoya Hussain and Divya Dutta in pivotal roles, the 55-year-old filmmaker's triptych of stories follows three generations of a Kashmiri Muslim family. Across three different timelines—political unrest in 1989 Srinagar, communal violence in 2030 and censorship in 2043—Tees unfolds as its protagonists grapple with their identity, voice and systemic excision in an increasingly dystopian India.With the film's commercial release in limbo, Banerjee spent the months since its DIFF premiere hosting private, non-ticketed screenings across India. Yet, it's not something he has done by choice. 'The screenings are a way of generating commercial and critical interest in the hope that somehow Tees lives by being seen,' Banerjee tells india today. Otherwise, unplayed, sitting on a hard drive, the film is as good as extinct. 'In such a situation, an audience connecting deeply with the film is gratifying and saddening. You love the fact that it moves someone but rue the fact that it can't move more.'advertisement
To explore Tees's complex themes—rising communalism, generational trauma and queer marginalisation under a surveillance state—Banerjee, who co-wrote, directed and produced the film, pulled from both the personal and the political. This included memories from his childhood and neighbourhood, Indian television epics like Hum Log and Buniyaad, Ashapurna Devi's Prothom Protishruti trilogy and Robert Harris's speculative historical novel Fatherland, which he claims influenced him 'subconsciously'. But the film's urgency came from the filmmaker watching young couples, especially Muslims, trying to rent a flat in Mumbai and from the murder of Gauri Lankesh.
SPANNING GENERATIONS |Naseeruddin Shah in a still from Tees
Banerjee has been making Hindi movies for nearly two decades—boasting an oeuvre that is both distinct and impossible to replicate. He debuted with Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006), a sharp satire about middle-class aspirations; helmed Love Sex Aur Dhokha (2010), a found-footage style anthology; and went on to direct a segment in Netflix-backed anthologies Bombay Talkies (2013) and Lust Stories (2018). In many ways, the expansive ambition of Tees was meant to be a culmination of Banerjee's evolution as a filmmaker. But with Tees buried, he became the very figure his film mourns: an artist muted by the system.In between, the filmmaker kept busy, directing a short film and releasing a potent sequel to Love Sex Aur Dhokha. Yet, Banerjee still found himself grappling with waves of anger and frustration. Navigating the emotional toll of the film's shelving while continuing to move forward as a filmmaker was a 'gradual' process—one he credits to therapy and a drive for inventive solutions. 'Choosing your workmates well is virtually half the battle won,' adds Banerjee.The disappearance of Tees may be best understood in the context of the controversy that surrounded Tandav (2021), the Prime Video series that drew right-wing ire for its portrayal of dissent and religious imagery. Despite edits, legal cases mounted, and fear took hold. It sent a clear warning to streamers, who became increasingly cautious about supporting projects that might provoke similar backlash. In such a fragile climate, films like Tees have arguably become collateral damage.According to Banerjee, filmmaking is an expensive art form that demands 'mediated investment' but which become an easy target because of its ability to reach out to a massive audience. Suppressing art that focuses on truth-telling, questioning and challenging narratives is a surefire way to condition audiences in the practice of distraction. 'A generation growing up on moving images can be better controlled if cruelty, misogyny and empty spectacle are provided through films regularly,' he argues.advertisementSimply by existing, Tees defies that conditioning. Invisibilising it makes clear exactly which stories are unwelcome in India today. And yet, its disappearance has only amplified the urgency of what it had to say.Subscribe to India Today MagazineMust Watch