Dibakar Banerjee’s ‘Tees’ shelved by Netflix, the filmmaker is looking for a new buyer
filmmaker
A new “Tees” film directed by Dibakar Banerjee is complete and ready for release. There has been an official announcement that “Tees” will debut on Netflix as its own original series. Banerjee completed filming in 2020 and submitted the finished product to the portal the following year, but progress on the film has stalled in recent months.
Tees was invited to have its world premiere at this year’s IFFR in the Limelight section, but Banerjee was unable to get the film screened at the portal. According to a report in Deadline, Netflix has confirmed it has no plans to release the feature but has not commented on the reasons for shelving it. The website has also confirmed that it has authorised Banerjee to send links to the film to prospective buyers. The streaming service does not encourage its movies to be shown at festivals.
This has put Dibakar in what he calls a “chicken and egg situation,” according to him. According to the filmmaker’s interview with Deadline, the streaming service gave him no explanation other than the fact that they have no idea when the timing is right to release the film. In addition, the streaming service is hesitant to release the film because of what happened with “Tandav.” While Banerjee acknowledges the similarities between his film and ‘Tandav,’ he insists on the vast differences between the two.
In addition to other movies and shows, production on Tees has stopped. In “Tees,” we follow a Muslim family of the middle class across three generations. Naseeruddin Shah, Kalki Koechlin, Huma Qureshi, Shashank Arora, and Neeraj Kabi are the film’s starring actors. For Banerjee, this is the pinnacle of his filmmaking career. He has begun reaching out to Indian and foreign distributors, investors, producers, and other potential buyers for the film. Recently, ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar,’ directed by Dibakar and starring Parineeti Chopra and Arjun Kapoor, was released.
