Dibakar Banerjee's stalled film Tees premieres at DIFF to rousing reception: Here's why Netflix India isn't releasing it

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Dibakar Banerjee's LSD 2: Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 released in cinemas earlier this year, but long before that, he shot for a film that's not seen the light of day yet. Tees, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Manisha Koirala among others, premiered at the Dharamshala International Film Festival in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday.

Tees premieres at DIFF

Dibakar is also doing a masterclass at DIFF, where his stalled film Tees premiered this weekend. The official X handle of the film festival shared a video of cinephiles showing up in huge numbers to catch the premiere of Tees. Many of them took to X to share glowing reviews of the film.

Tees is about three generations of an Indian family, which begins in the 1980s and ends in 2042. It also stars Neeraj Kabi, Divya Dutta, Shashank Arora and Huma Qureshi among others. It marks Dibakar's reunion with Manisha after their short film in Netflix India's 2018 anthology Lust Stories. It also marks his reunion with Shashank after the latter's debut film, Kanu Behl's 2014 neo-noir crime drama Titli, which was co-produced by Dibakar and Aditya Chopra's Yash Raj Films.

Why Tees won't release on Netflix India

Tees was commissioned by Netflix India years ago, but the platform has stalled its release now. On Unfiltered with Samdish last year, Dibakar opened up about the status of the film. “It is best to ask them. They told us that they are not sure if this is the right time to release the film. Later, they gave a statement in an interview and said that the film didn’t fit their slate,” said Dibakar.

“Now I am knocking all doors, begging people to buy the film from Netflix. I am meeting people in India as well as abroad, so that someone buys it from Netflix and releases it. I have not been able to move on from the film because I am entangled in it,” the filmmaker added. The screening at DIFF is probably an attempt to pitch it to potential buyers.

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