Different scenes can break us differently. Take, for example, the conflicting pleasures of Tribhanga, a film about a mother-daughter relationship out on Netflix. For many, the constant swearing and characteristic bluster of Kajol-playing an Odissi dancer named Anu-proved too much. Personally, though, I found it to be the best part, a typically impetuous actor letting it fly in her digital debut. Instead, what baffled me about the film was the portrayal of Anu’s husband, a Russian expat named — of all things — Dmitri.
Now, if the depiction of Russians in US cinema makes you queasy, let Tribhanga do them one better. Not only is Dmitri shown to be a violent husband, but his entire arc is introduced and dispatched in a single flashback, one that ends with Kajol whacking him with an umbrella. Director Renuka Shahane laughs when I place my complaint before her. “I wanted to explore the connection of the Russian doll. One character coming out of another,” Renuka explains.
“There was a time in my life when I used to watch a lot of films at the House of Soviet Culture (in Mumbai). So I knew the backstory that Anu and Dmitri could have.” A family saga, Tribhanga centres on Anu’s broken relationship with her mother. Nayan (Tanvi Azmi) is a successful writer whose individualism has pushed away her kids. Years later, she falls into a coma and is hospitalised, leaving Anu and her brother to reckon with their tormented past. By now Anu is a mother too-and thus better equipped to understand Nayan. The character cuts close to Kajol, who comes from a line of strong, successful, famous women.
“Nayan has huge shades of my mom (veteran actor Tanuja),” Kajol agrees. “Being an opinionated person myself, I could understand where Anu is coming from. She’s one of the coolest characters I have played.”
Hence the swearing? Kajol admits she doesn’t swear in real life, so everyone was a little taken aback by her on set. “The first day we started out, Renuka was in a bit of shock,” Kajol shares, adding, “She kept telling me, ‘It’s coming so easily to you. I wonder why that is’.”
In the film, Anu discovers her love for Odissi after watching a Kelucharan Mohapatra performance. We don’t see her dance though — a decision taken out of respect for the complex form. “To portray an Odissi performer takes a certain level of skill,” Kajol says. “You need to at least train for four to six months to look convincing. That’s why we haven’t kept a dance sequence in the film.”