Te3n

Somewhere during that second half of Te3n I was able to guess one of the two mysteries the movie had. Directed by Ribhu Dasgupta and produced by Sujoy Ghosh, Te3n is slow but at the same time is engaging. A little conviction issue is there in the writing part, but still the absorbing performance of Amitabh Bachchan and the way the suspense was created sort of succeeds in moving the audience on an emotional level.

It is a thriller based on a kidnapping case. John Biswas is a very old man who keeps coming to police station to know the status of his granddaughter’s kidnap and murder case which happened 8 years back. The police officer Sarita always consolidate him and he keeps on doing his part of investigation. He is also in touch with a priest Martin who then was the in charge of the case (Ya! A police officer turned priest). The film basically follows the series of events that happen after another kidnap which followed the same modus of operandi.

The title Teen/Theen/ Te3n seems to be based on the number of investigations that happens in the movie (My version. Enlighten me if you have any other findings). The interesting thing about the screenplay is also these three investigations that have totally different approaches. Sarita is too swift and not so concerned about the cross checking aspect while Father Martin actually does the thinking part. The real struggle actually is for the old man John Biswas who has no aid in this journey to find redemption from the guilt.  The charm decreases considerably when it comes to convincing us the journey of Mr. Biswas. At many areas it doesn’t actually look like a practically possible task. I am not blaming the logic here; it is the writing and making that needed to be more efficient in those portions. I am saying this because the Vidya Balan starrer Kahaani which had the same team backing also had this same challenge of convincing the audience and it achieved that brilliantly.

On screen Mr. Bachchan is terrific in portraying the angst, guilt and determination of John Biswas. It doesn’t look like a challenging role for someone like Nawazuddin Siddiqui, but I liked the way he carried himself as that priest who still somewhere is an enthusiastic police officer. Vidya Balan, in probably lengthiest guest appearance I have ever seen on cinema, did a neat job in portraying the role of the hasty police officer Sarita. Sabyasachi Chakrabarthy also plays a key role in this thriller.

Much like Kahaani, here also we get to see slowness in the beginning portion and the acceleration happens only in the second half. But the Sujoy Ghosh thriller had more of a gripping feel to it. But with Te3n, Ribhu Dasgupta cant really generate similar level of excitement. By the time we get to know one of the suspense factors, there is a chance that you might have guessed it in your mind. There is definitely an excitement that comes in the second half which occasionally gets disturbed when Mr. Biswas tries to do something which can’t satisfy your mind that focuses on the practicality. The visuals are really beautiful depicting the iconic elements of Kolkata in every frame. Cuts could have been a little faster paced.

Te3n has ups and downs when it comes to making. But on the whole the terrific performances and the emotional impact along with those discrete catchy moments of investigative thrill, I would say it’s worth a watch. It’s a passable thriller.

Rating : 3/5