Cast: Kajol, Tanvi Azmi, Mithila Palkar Palekar, Manav Govil, Kanwaljeet Singh, Kunal Roy Kapur
Directed by Renuka Shahane
BLUF:
A famous author has a stroke and slides into a coma. Her estranged daughter and son visit her at the hospital while she is on life support along with her biographer. The story of decisions of strong, independent women as they live life on their terms and the consequences of their bold decisions.
THE MEAT AND THE POTATOES
As the author, Nayantara Apte ( Tanvi Azmi) lies in a coma, her biographer starts getting to know the family dynamics between her, her daughter, Anu ( Kajol), her son, and the granddaughter (Mithila Palkar), who had all taken decisions of their lives based on their experiences and circumstances. The story reveals itself in multiple subplots in sassy, saucy bits and the reason for the rift between the mother and daughter is revealed. Whereas opening new pandora boxes, the story runs back and forth in past and present.
IN THE ZONE
Tribhanga has been written and directed by debutant director Renuka Shahane. Tanvi Azmi and Kajol both shimmer in their avatars as mother and daughter and the portrayal of their relationship is a stimulating watch. Mithila Palkar delivers her role with aplomb. Kunaal Roy Kapoor is fantastic and proves his mettle with each understated role that he picks up. Kanwaljeet Singh, Vaibhav Tatwawaadi, and Manav Gohil are satisfactory in their limited roles.
Though the music of the movie is average work, Baba Azmi’s brilliant camerawork is reminiscent of the decades between the three generations. Jabeen Merchant’s editing is sharp and efficient.
FWAR
The movie is more show and less tell and very evocatively raises the questions important to generations of women all over the world.
Are women who choose their career over domestic lives in the wrong? Are they to be blamed and ostracized if their choices put themselves first and walk out of marriage partnerships if it comes at the cost of their own passions?
In the backdrop of the conservative Maharashtrian society that forms the milieu of Tribhanga, Nayantara Apte, is condemned as guilty even by her own children,
Her children resent their mother with a vengeance and hold Nayan responsible for every little thing that has gone wrong in their lives because of the choices she made.
As the biographer Milan Upadhaya, tries to bridge the gap in Nayan’s life while she is in a coma, the story is unraveled in flashbacks and tells a story of women who are unapologetic in their choices and own the responsibility for the reasons of those choices.
Tribhanga does not feel a lot to digest even when there is so much happening in threads of subplots. Just like life, when the sub-threads of patriarchy, unreasonable mothers-in-law, domestic violence, sexual abuse of children, gutless men, entitled kids happen, they had the potential of overpowering the narrative, but Renuka Shahane told her story with such honesty that no small detail digressed from the storyline. Her characters do most of the chronicling without being perfect in any way or form and perhaps that is the strength of the movie.
WHAT WE LOVED
The cast, the writing, great dialogues the technical experience of the storytelling. Great filmmaking
WHAT WE MISSED
Better music score
