The Tenant (2023) [Hall-Rip]

A conservative Mumbai suburb is The Tenant bestirred by the arrival of an alluring cosmopolitan woman in their midst. When a wide-eyed 13-year-old boy pursues a friendship with her, he stumbles upon her secret past and is thrust headlong into adulthood.

A teenager falling for a glamorous older woman often means a recipe for a risqué outing. But with The Tenant, director-writer Sushrut Jain doles out a heartwarming and engaging tale. It gives one a glimpse of everyday lives, with teenage crushes, inane quarrels among the building’s committee members and residents, what it means for single women to find accommodation in the city, and how married women are denied carnal pleasures and desires. It’s also a story of an unlikely friendship—between a young boy, Bharat Sharma (Rudraksh Jaiswal) and a model-cum-painter and a sultry single woman, Meera (Shamita Shetty).
When Meera comes to live in the residential complex, she becomes a subject of gossip for the women, loose talk for the men, and the object of desire for the young boys. A parallel track is about how society won’t forget and let a woman move on from mistakes from another lifetime.
Sushrut narrates these with taut and stellar storytelling. Even though you can predict the unfolding of events, you will revel in the nuances, such as casual sexism (a boy tugs at Bharat’s school crush Aparna’s braid, which is harassment garbed as harmless mischief), hypocrisy when a society member describes his run-in with Meera. He callously mentions that he was in his briefs but is outraged and vulgarly talks in detail about her see-through ‘slip.’ Another aspect is the polarity of attention. On the one hand, Meera wants to evade it due to a past event, and on the other, Mrs Mishra and Mrs Sharma (Bharat’s mom) are vying for it from their respective husbands. The movie also portrays different kinds of friendships—one that can make you a better person, The Tenant support you in your tough times (Meera’s friends from the industry), stand rock solid by your side (Bharat and his buddy, Pappu), or spoil you, like the building bully Rocky (Harsh Mayar) does to his gang of younger minions.
The movie has some power-packed performances, especially by Shamita Shetty as Meera, a disillusioned yet kind and polite woman, and as someone uber-confident and unapologetic about her personality. Rudraksh as Bharat also gives an impactful performance and represents young boys on the cusp of growth where personal experience and exposure can make them into misogynists or feminists. And this is mellifluously depicted through his reaction to his mother (Divya Jagdale) trying to win the ‘Dinner with Daya’ contest featuring Dayanand Shetty (CID). When Bharat urges his father (Atul Srivastava) to “do something” about it, it organically turns from trying to stop his mother from living her life to noticing and cherishing her. Swanand Kirkire as the creepy chairman of the society, Mishra, and Sheeba Chaddha as his wife deliver restrained yet powerful performances.
The movie’s music is another highlight, with relatively unheard blues gems, such as James Carr’s ‘Lovable Girl’ or Lee Dorsey’s ‘Hello Mama’ and a recognised track, Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Games.’
While the film’s first half takes time to work up the plot, the second half is crisp and engaging. However, the story is sometimes unconvincing—especially how unabashed Meera is in a teenager’s presence, inviting him to a boorish party, taking him on an outing without telling his parents or cosying up with her boyfriend. In a building where nothing goes unnoticed by the watchman and aunties, Bharat saunters in and out of her apartment easily.
The Tenant is a matter-of-fact take on feminism and avoids intense dialogue-baazi to make a case for women. Its appeal also lies in the heart-warming tale of friendship.