Star Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vidya Balan, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty
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Director: Ribhu Dasgupta
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What’s Bad: Predictability kills the suspense which the story builds at a snail pace.
Loo Break: In the first half, if needed!
Watch or Not?: Te3n turns out to be a disappointing thriller as it starts to give away the suspense quite early on. If you want to catch a film that can make you scratch your brain then this is not your pick. It is an average thriller, still a better choice than many senseless Bollywood films.
User Rating:
The protagonist of this tale is John Biswas (Amitabh Bachchan), who has lost his grand-daughter in a kidnapping case 8 years ago. Unwilling to give up on seeking justice for his grand child, John is seen replaying the evidence at hand over and over, so as to finally find one more clue into nabbing the culprit.
Eight years later, when a similar case repeats itself as another child is kidnapped, the officer in charge Sarita Sarkar (Vidya Balan) and Father Martin Das (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) who is a former cop, delve into both the cases.
Will John be able to nab the culprit 8 years later? Is the kidnapper for both the cases same?
Te3n has been adapted from the Korean thriller Montage with a few changes in the plot. It mainly revolves around the thin line between redemption and revenge and also relieving oneself of guilt for a crime that is unintentionally committed.
The film takes off rather slowly as we are introduced to John’s character and his wheel-chair borne wife. For a thriller, the pace of the story is rather sluggish and while one would consider it a massive build up for what’s to come next, unfortunately what we are served as climax comes off as highly unconvincing.
One of the major issues with this script is that it is foreseeable for a viewer. The edge-of-the seat thrill that Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani provided in the same setting is no where to be found in Te3n.
Choosing for a climax that is less dramatic, sadly, the writers fail to provide a strong logic to it too. The outcome of this thriller is too fickle. At one point, the story even drives on the similar lanes as Amitabh Bachchan’s recent film Wazir.
For a smart viewer, this script is shallow and will raise his heartbeats at not more than one juncture.
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Amitabh Bachchan, who is otherwise known for his strong performances, nails the act of a feeble grandfather who dearly loved his grand-child and will not leave any stone unturned to seek justice for her. His silences, his body language and the overall performance is bang on. Your heart goes out to his character instantly from the start.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui tries something different as he pulls off the role of an ex-cop turned Father. One major setback in his act is the tone since he fails to bring the Catholic touch. Yet, when it comes to his act, he is an actor who never fails to make an impact.
Vidya Balan has a guest appearance in the film as the police officer in charge of the new case. There is not much scope for her to showcase anything exceptional so she does exactly what she is expected to do.
Ribhu Dasgupta takes us back into the lanes of Kolkata after the much lauded Kahaani and Piku, which too found their story settings in the same city.
The thriller has a slow first half but pre-interval it starts to pick up with its pace only to again crawl towards the end. Dasgupta’s eye for lighting is good and he keeps a good amount of variety in it.
Unfortunately, in the director’s story-telling, the oscillation between the flash back and the present is quite bleary and may even leave the viewers slightly confused. This is a sign that the screenplay needed a better working upon.
Visually, the film does form for a great viewing since Ribhu incorporates his story into the stills of everyday life. The trams, the bells of cycle, the quite and died down alleys of the town are perfect indicators of that.
The soundtrack of Te3n is certainly impressive and the songs form as a good background score when needed.
A tighter editing could have definitely worked better for the film.
Te3n is a thriller that fails to keep you engaged to the last bit thanks to its predictability. I am going with a 2.5/5 for the film.
Te3n releases on 10th June, 2016.
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