The Zebras traces the journey of three individuals of distinct and at times overlapping personalities amidst the outbreak of Artificial Intelligence that is effectively used as a backdrop, while also acting as a thread to tie these stories together. And there is a lot to unpack through its incredible narrative wherein patience is a big virtue given the rewards it has to offer in terms of its themes. At its core, it is a searing commentary on the impact that Artificial Intelligence would have on human lives even as most of us are busy restricting our worlds to social media in exchange for a few likes and followers. The commentary on the current setup of social media is met through sensationalization without finding the need for validating the news and the posts, something that is also touched upon in this incredible narrative standing at a whopping length of 163 minutes. My only issue in an otherwise perfect screenplay was its length which could have been trimmed down. 

The drama begins on a futuristic note with Artificial Intelligence(AI) having taken over the world in 2040. The interesting bit about the drama here is about highlighting the timelines through its three central protagonists, each of whom have a distinct journey until the worlds collide. The timelines are important given that they add a layer of impressions for the characters along the world that they find themselves in, even as the same begins to unfold and advance at a rapid pace but more importantly subconsciously, and without the realisation of each of three individuals on show. The non-linear narrative is accompanied by a haunting and terrifying ambience which is tactfully created even as the drama intricately jumps timelines at regular junctures of the screenplay. The jumps are rapid but intentional even as you find yourself scratching your head on what the drama is upto, given that it involves a murder plot without having any context of the characters or the baggages that they carry. The only early glimpses include a man taking pictures of a weirdly dressed woman, even while another character undergoes a collapse in what seemed like mutually exclusive events. But patience is an important virtue here! 

One of the most intriguing aspects of the drama is the characterization of its three central protagonists, all of whom are connected by the darker realms of reality. Apeksha is said to be a documentary photographer portraying a certain image for people around her, even as she indulges in exploring the dark realms of sensationalism by opting to manipulate the setting or the story behind the images that she intends to capture. In a scene, you see a terrifying figure walking through the streets of Kolkata until he meets Apeksha, and the two travel in the interiors of the city during the night for a photoshoot. This scene has a dual interpretation – one can be of the opinion that the terrifying figure is infact the conscious of Apeksha, even as she continues to click pictures that would later be edited and passed through AI. In another scene, you see Apeksha talking to a college student into making her believe that she is a prostitute in front of the camera, just to  gather eyeballs! 

You also have Pawan, the owner of a restaurant(probably in Chinatown) and a loner of sorts, often shown randomly strolling on the streets. He does have a passion for photography too and is an avid lover of cinema, particularly of films made by Kim Ki Duk, whom he considers his idol. The interesting facet of his character is that he also has a poster of the Korean film ‘Memories Of Murder’ hung on its dimly lit wall, an exploration of the darker aspects of his character being a potential serial killer. In a scene, he is shown to get turned on by a dead body, first of a pig and later of a person being killed, even though it does quench his fetish of capturing the moment, and later uploading it on social media for a few likes and followers. 

The character that was the most pure out of the three was Sumehra, a young girl of an impressionable age who is fascinated by the fame that one would get on social media, a plot point that coaxes her to leave the shambles of her home. But little does she know that fane does come at a cost, even as she is subjected to a heinous crime that would scar her for a lifetime. Make no mistake, you do see her gaining followers on social media but it never really translates into happiness, instead it turns into a recoil of having to commit a crime given that she is subjected to again, at a latter point. The three worlds briefly meet while the writers try to equate the same with the dangers of AI, almost equating the drama with danger lurking on both timelines – the present and the future with a mere replacement of entities. 

There is a sudden shift in the tone of the drama much similar to Aneek Chadhuri, the maker’s previous film The Santa And The Moth, wherein the proceedings are laced with stark elements of horror even as the transition begins to a futuristic timeline. The horrors of social media would eventually be an aide to AI given how a lot of information would have been fed on the internet, knowingly or unknowingly(that is how AI works) as shown by each of the three characters. The commentary on alerting the viewers from the potential horror in store, did account for a watch that was exciting but also frightening in many ways, leading to the final act which is disturbing in a subtle manner given how there isn’tba concept of reversibility here. If there was this one criticism about the screenplay, it would be about its length wherein certain sequences do go around in circles(relatively), this despite certain things already been established. But overall, the screenplay is near perfect and the non-linearity of it actually accounts for a brilliantly mysterious and trippy watch.