The Tenant REVIEW: Shamita Shetty excels in this hard-hitting story but gets a bit dramatic

Saheli Maity

February 12, 2023
7:00 pm
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Shamita Shetty starrer The Tenant is a hard-hitting movie and a must-watch movie which is real, raw and impactful. Read the review below

The Tenant Movie REVIEW:

I have finally watched Shamita Shetty starrer The Tenant recently and oh boy, she narrates a story of a woman who is often judged and put under the radar by their own people. The movie shows the narrow thinking of society and how a woman is looked down upon on basis of them coming home late, clothes or having more male friends. Long back, I had seen a post on Facebook stating that when a man is surrounded by women, they are called a stud and when a woman is surrounded by men, they are called whore or a slut.

Well, The Tenant exactly speaks about that issue and the thinking of society. When I first saw the trailer, I was quite intrigued by the story. A single woman lives in an apartment alone but she is judged by the building for no reason. We, women, are often being judged or even ridiculed for living our life on our own terms and I liked how the director as well as the writer Sushrut Jain showed us how people around you think. I like he kept it raw and real while adding a relatable touch.

In the movie, Meera is constantly under scrutiny. Conservative females gossiping about her lifestyle, uncles leeching around, a pervert and horny chairman who only wants to satisfy his sexual desires, the teenage boys who are lurking and a watchman who is tracking her whereabouts and who all visit her at the house, these points are quite relatable if you’re also living alone in the building.

I like how Sushrut Jain showed other issues like how the wife tries to reignite the spark with her husband after a long marriage and how Bharat urges his father to ‘do something’ as his parents’ marriage goes through a rough patch. These are small bits in The Tenant movie but have a lot of effects. My one word review would be interesting.

Drawbacks:

The only problem that I noticed was the execution of the movie. I feel it would have been better as a short film. I felt that screenplay was all over the place in some places, making it a little dramatic. While the first half of the movie seems like a drag, the second half was engaging. It was crisp, gritty and intense. The other fact that didn’t work out well for me was Shamita’s character. At one point she seems an independent woman who can easily take on any man, the other moment, we see a damsel in distress who ultimately fails to even fight for herself.

Story:

The Tenant is a coming-of-age story about an unusual friendship between a single modern woman and a teen adolescent who is just starting to explore the world around him. A woman named Meera becomes a new tenant in the building which raises a lot of eyebrows. She then starts building a good bond with a teen named Bharat. However, their small world gets disrupted when the boy starts to build feelings for the woman. Meera’s life takes a 360-degree shift when her past bites her back, raising several questions about her character. How will a single woman tackle people’s derogatory questions about her character? How will she maintain her equation with the boy?

Star Performances:

Shamita Shetty makes a comeback and well, she shines in this hard-hitting story. She essays the role of Meera as a single woman who lives her life on her own terms. She comes to live in a society as a tenant and the whispers follow when it is known that she lives alone without a husband. Shamita plays her part with utmost honesty and she shines in the movie. She does a fab job of conveying her emotions, from being an independent woman to being helpless when men leech around her and gawk. However, it didn’t feel like she is acting as a character, it seems like Shamita is Meera. I couldn’t differentiate between the two characters. Blame it on Bigg Boss 15, Shamita seems perfect for this role.

Rudhraksh Jaiswal essays the role of Bharat, the teenage boy and he does a fan job. I really liked how this young talent brought innocence and mature emotions with so much ease. He indeed is talented and I would love to see him in more movies.

Other supporting stars like Swanand Kirkire, Sheeba Chaddha, Atul Srivastava, Divya Jagdale, Manish Anand, Harsh Mayar, and Akshat Singh also leave an impact with their performance, especially Swanand.

Conclusion:

Shamita Shetty starrer The Tenant is a hard-hitting movie and a must-watch movie that showcases how a single woman living alone is being judged by society. The movie has a feminist touch, speaking about problems that a woman face in society, be it negligence from their partners to men casually assassinating the character of a woman. This does speak volumes and hence, I’m going with 3 stars.

Watch The Tenant trailer after the review: