Te3n

Well, Te3N is a consummate example of excellent acting by Amitabh Bachchan, Vidya Balan & Nawazuddin Siddiqui. It is a remake of the famous and award winning 2013 South Korean movie- 'Montage', with few twists and turns. As the crime story unfolds, it keeps you wondering to it's possibilities. The film for not once lets you yawn(except if you're sleepy of course :P) I will suggest you to go through the trailer which intricately carves out the story line in gaps, obviously since it's a suspense thriller.

Now since you've seen this. let's talk about the Story Plot:

John Biswas, a grand-father (Amitabh Bachchan) is in deep shock even after 8 years of kidnapping of his grand-daughter, named Angela Roy. His own wife is very sick and wheel-chair bound. Despite all circumstances, he daily visits police station without fail. Coincidently he comes across a clue and simultaneously another kidnapping of same nature happens, baffling the police. Sarita Sarkar(Vidya Balan) is made to handle the case, while she is of little knowledge of Kidnapping cases, but still decided to go on with it. She thinks to demand help from Father Martin(Nawazuddin Siddiqui) who has been a former cop, and was involved in handling Angela's case. Thus, knowing the series of operations that happened in the past, he comes to support partially by providing clues. Rest all you will get to know when you go for the movie.

Let's hop to Acting now:

Though Amitabh Bachchan is a clear ruler out of all, but the co-cast do not fail promising delivery. Nawaz is always a fit-into-all. Vidya Balan is simply magnificent though her screen time is a little less.

Direction: Well, Ribhu Dasgupta has definitely had a great entry to Bollywood with a great ensemble of cast. The Direction is good and makes you feel into the story and impacts much realism.

Cinematography: Mostly we forget these aspects which make us trust in the story. The movie has appreciably captured the essence of Kolkata, the lanes, the market everything. You are familiar with the pain in the dimmed rooms, having tea or food with with perfect shots.

Dialogues: Well not many imapactful dialogues but a great attempt. I loved the one where Vidya says "Jo Khud Ka Kaam Na Kar Paaye, Wo Khua Ka Kya Karega?"

Music: Well, the music in the movie is all about pain, the background score will also relate you to that. It is soft to the ears and the heart. I would say some average pieces by Clinton Cerejo.

In all, I give the movie a 7/10. I suggest it is a one -time watch with a mind-boggling story and as already stated a good package of everything. Go ahead. :)

The good: The movie, as the credits indicate, is derived at least partly from the Korean movie "Montage". The story is quite suspenseful and the director does a good job juggling between various interweaving stories and time periods. Performances from the lead actors are solid and little to fault there. The negatives: My main gripe with the movie is that it contains several idle moments which do not seem to serve much purpose to either the development of the plot or characters or the overall experience. Overall verdict: Otherwise, the script is solid and the movie is well worth a watch. It also continues the gradually building list of quality Hindi whodunits with West Bengal (more specifically Kolkata) as the backdrop after Kahaani and Byomkesh Bakshi. I would also recommend Baishe Srabon, an excellent thriller in Bengali language, for whodunit fans

The genre of serious crime thriller has arrived in Bollywood. We have already had excellent films like 'kahani', 'talash' and now Ribhu Dasgupta gives us 'te3n'.

In 1997 I joined a queue under scorching midday sun to buy a ticket for 'Mrityudata' (one of Amitabh Bachchan's totally forgettable middle-age fares) and felt it was time to write him off. Twenty years down the line, he reigns supreme over the Indian film industry, going from strength to strength, reinventing and surpassing himself time and again. That itself could have been enough for 'te3n' but the director also decided to throw Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vidya Balan and Sabyasachi Chakrabarti in. A viewing pleasure.

Many have complained about the slow pace. For me that set the tone of the story. An excellent story, told by an exceptional ensemble cast - the perfect fare for a lazy Sunday afternoon. We are told that the story-line has been taken from a Korean one, but its adaptation into the slowly decaying Anglo-Indian community of Kolkata has been flawless.

My only serious grouse is about Sabyasachi Chakrabarti. A brilliant actor, a versatile presence in the Bengali (large and small) screen. However, the way he has let his appearance go in recent years has been a source of terrible disappointment to his appreciative viewers.

4 reasons we are watching this - Amitabh Bachchan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vidya Balan and finally this is the Hindi remake of only one of the best Korean non-derivative thrillers in recent years called Montage that not many people even know about. If you have seen Hindi remakes you would know they can often surprise you with a new spin on familiar proceedings. We already know how everything would pan out but we were still kept spellbound.

It is impossible to write a synopsis without unintentionally dropping a spoiler, so I am going to keep it very simple. This is a story about a grandfather (Amitabh Bachchan), a priest (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) and a police officer (Vidya Balan) coming together to solve a case of a kidnapped child.

Montage (2013) was one helluva movie. It plays with an overly familiar premise of a kidnapped child but it weaves such an inventive spin on the genre that it rises up like a phoenix from the ashes. The emotional weight coupled with the gripping narrative and a superb sleight-of-hand play with fractured timelines transcends way above derivative thrillers that barely register a blimp on your consciousness. It is a film that one can't quite conveniently pigeonhole into the usual boxes. This is ripe for a remake.

I know both of us, while being kept spellbound, were unconsciously comparing both versions. After it ended our conversations eddied around different aspects of both versions. In fact, we will be re-watching Montage this evening. That is how much we love the incredible story. Both have their pluses and minuses, and it is such an interesting activity to see the different trajectories taken by two different types of world cinema.

One of the major nitpicks we have with Te3n is the lumbering pace in the first half hour. What should have been a relentless ride nearly dissolves into weepy melodrama. Montage never once had this issue because it has a superb sense of urgency with the statute of limitations for the unsolved case running out. The director, Ribhu Dasgupta, should have trusted the acuity of the audience to join the dots, but it was just content to cement the fact that Bachchan's John and Siddiqui's Martin are empty shells of a man because of the devastating incident 8 years ago. These are not ordinary actors - when Amitabh Bachchan says he is sad, we know in our very bones he is earth-shatteringly overwhelmed with sadness. There is no need to give us half an hour of him moping around. I don't mean to say I was bored looking at him because I absolutely wasn't; there are not many actors out there I would pay to watch them do nothing and with little soliloquy like Bachchan and Siddiqui. Bachchan and Siddiqui are just magnetic to watch.

Compared to the Korean original, the ending feels a little blotched and IMHO doesn't quite reach the same zenith set by Montage (we are watching again just to find out if we are right). I recalled the final wordless scene in the Korean film that really hit me in the gut and I failed to hold back a torrent of tears from streaming down my face. That scene seals up everything so marvellously. Te3n could have used the same scene. However, kudos still to a superbly made film that uses the city of Kolkata so well; it feels like it is the 4th major character of the film. Even though I knew the outcome of the story and remembered every twist and turn, Te3n still manages to surprise me with its intensity and its commitment to tell a good story. This is the type of story that has so many moving parts that one wrong turn it would fail, but it doesn't. If you choose to look closely you probably will see loopholes but you won't want to because the story has so much verve. This is easily one of the best films I have seen this year.

Synopsis: The story is set in Kolkata where John Biswas (Amitabh) lives with his sick, wheelchair bound wife. John hasn't moved on in life even after 8 years since the death of his granddaughter Angela in a kidnapping incident. He needs closure and keeps pursuing the case, especially since he blames himself for her death. Father Martin (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is an ex-cop turned priest. Martin, the cop in charge of John's case has a life changing experience due to the tragedy.

Suddenly after 8 years, John stumbles upon new clues in the case which might lead him to the killer. Not having too any expectations from the police he decides to investigate the leads himself.

In the meanwhile, a second kidnapping takes place which has an uncanny resemblance to the kidnapping of John's granddaughter eight years ago. Events occur in an identical pattern where Manohar's (Sabyasachi Chakraborty) grandson Ronnie is kidnapped. The case is handed over to Sarita (Vidya Balan) who seeks help from Martin to nab the kidnapper, due to his prior experience with the Angela case.

Investigations in these two cases set eight years apart, one by Amitabh and the other by Vaidya and Nawaz happening in parallel with some flashback scenes form the crux of this gripping psychological thriller.

Cast: The main cast namely Amitabh, Nawaz, Vidya and Sabyasachi play their roles to perfection keeping the audiences glued to their seats. Amazing performances indeed!! Direction Music and Editing: Ribhu Ghosh's direction is superb keeping the plot on track, that along with slick editing keep the audiences hooked till the very end of the film. Music is good and compliments the narrative very well.

As a writer, I could think of at least three alternate endings for the film. The makers have however chosen the most "humane one" and not the most "gripping, edge of the seat one" which could somewhat disappoint die-hard "Whodunit" fans. Well, having said that; the ending is not bad at all and you come out of the cinema hall feeling satisfied that your money has been well spent.

My Verdict: Great performances, direction, nice gripping storyline with an ending to watch out for. Is it a serial killer who has come out of hibernation after eight long years or is there something else to it?? Don't want to reveal too much here. Guys, bindaas jaake theatre main dekho!! You won't be disappointed. If you liked Vidya Balan's Kahani, you will love this one too!! 8/10 from me for this highly entertaining movie!!