Tekka

When a movie establishes its own rules, only to break them later, and still manages to make every prior event work in context-only few films manage to pull this off satisfyingly. *Tekka* is one of them.

It's been a while since a film had my jaw hanging down to the floor. Srijit Mukherji expertly crafts a series of events that feels like a well-executed magic trick, leaving you in disbelief.

The tension is palpable, with sharp dialogue exchanges and standout performances. The set design immerses you fully. Madhura Palit, the Cannes-winning cinematographer, uses minimal yet powerful techniques to shoot the same location through thousands of lenses. The script is tastefully witty, with almost every joke hitting its mark.

However, Mukherji seems to hold back, perhaps intentionally to cater to the commercial Puja crowd. Some plot points are deliberately dumbed down for accessibility. There's a bit of spoon-feeding in the exposition, along with a few jarring editing choices and camera angles that feel out of place. The sound design also feels unpolished-dubbing is often out of sync, and sound effects are not properly panned across the theatre. The score weirdly mimics Nolan's Tenet, with one section lifting the chord progression directly from Ludwig Göransson's "Rainy Night in Tallinn" unchanged.

Despite its few but present flaws, *Tekka* is an exhilarating ride. Avoid spoilers and trailers-going in blind is the best way to experience this. Highly recommended.

Much more was expected out of a Srijit Mukherjee but unfortunately that was not to be and was very disappointed. Boring, slow, bland and melodramatic storyline. We expect more out of Srijit Mukherjee especially in the thriller genre. Hope we would get some great thrillers from him in future.

Acting : 5 Story and screenplay : 2 Music : 7 Action : 2

The subplots were equally poor and did not see any hope from them. We may take a leaf of movies made in other languages to get some ideas and replicate in our own way probably as they keep us guessing till the end and don't drag it in between. Please avoid if possible.

Hostage thrillers generally thrive on palpable intensity, which can be cultivated through a compelling and sophisticated screenwriting.

Regrettably, 'Tekka' falls short in this regard.

Pacing is lethargic and the narrative is riddled with occurrences that starkly contradict logic and rationalities. Furthermore, the underlying themes; class discrimination, communal hate interfaith marriages, corrupt politicians; all, undeniably critical, yet the execution feels heavy-handed and moralistic, lacking the emotional resonance one would hope for.

While the performances, particularly that of Dev, and the end twist provide a glimmer of redemption, they are not enough to elevate the film from the pits of mediocrity.

I can definitely say that Srijit Mukherji has cooked in Tekka and he probably has extracted the career best performance from Dev. Best thing was hearing Dev cussing, it was paisa wasool for that reason alone. Rukmini and Swastika were great as well. The film jumps straight into the action and maintains the pace & tempo keeping us on the edge. And that twist, I seriously wasn't expecting it dayumn. The climax was brilliant and concludes the film perfectly. There were a few massy elements ft Dev as well which was cool. And the way it tackles several social, religious and political issues without being preachy was commendable. In fact the message of communal harmony was very impactful. The film has everything to become a blockbuster this Durga Puja.

This film depicts a cop and kidnapper chasing tale with some amazing twists.

The co-screenplay, dialogues and direction by #SrijitMukherji is brilliant. He is a bit leniant to his craft this time and his narrative style is simple and linear mostly.

The story & co-screenplay by #BhaskarChattopadhyay is engaging.

#ModhuraPalit being the cinematographer steals the show.

#PronoyDasgupta's editing is crispest to the core.

Music Director #RanajoyBhattacharjee has presented some situational chords, but none of them are worth-humming.

Costume Designer #JayantiSen & assistant costume stylist #SampurnaBasu has done a fab job, but the continuity jerk of the hairstyle of Swastika in the film with that in the poster is a concern, however it may be a director's choice. But the look in the poster seems more convincing.

As per the performances are concerned, #Dev as Iqlakh Alam (Jack) is fairly good. He has done the best as much as he could do, but the character of a janitor demands a lot of body-language which was lacking at times. #RukminiMaitra as ACP Maya Khastogir steals the show, all thanks to her groomer #SudiptaChakraborty. #SwastikaMukherjee as Ira Sengupta was good but not convincing enough in the story, as her actions were predictable enough. #ParanBandopadhyay as MLA and industrialist Anubrata Adhikari was as usual superb in his extended cameo. Baby #Aameya as Avantika was adorable. #SreejaDutta as Brishti was fairly good on-screen, #LokenathDey as Inspector Kallol Guha, #KamaleswarMukherjee as DCP Rajat Majumdar and #SujanNeelMukherjee as News Anchor/Journalist were good in their parts, #AryanBhowmik as Tintin was very spontaneous, #AnirbanBhattacharyya as the maintenance manager was good in his part. The film has some guest appearances, namely #TotaRoyChowdhury as Maya's husband Rajiv Sanyal, #KaushikSen as Altaf Alam, #SrijitMukherji as Mr. Arjun Puri and #SudeshnaRoy as Mrs. Mitali Sharma has made their presence amply felt.

Production by #DevEntertainmentVentures of #GurupadaAdhikari & Dev along with distributor #PVRInoxPictures has made an average film.

Definitely Not a Must Watch. 👍🏻