Te3n

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.

I watch mostly International films and series, with favorites being Indian and South Korean. So I'm a bit biased toward them, but I'm rarely disappointed either. This one works just fine because of always wonderful Amitabh Bachchan and his supporting cast. It's a bit predictable but still interesting with just the right edge of suspense and satisfying resolution. The music is also good with some effective touches in the second half. I enjoyed this one for a Saturday afternoon break.

This movie is the official remake of Korean movie montage

First things first..didn't watch "Montage" korean film..on which this movie is based..and i don't want too either...let me explain why in one word..."Amitabh Bachhan"

Acting was brilliant...Amit ji, Nawazuddin and Vidya Balan were awesome to watch... (vidya had less screen time unfortunately)

Amitabh played a character who is devastated and sad...watching him..made me feel for the character.. made me feel sad too...it was acting at its finest

Nawazuddin plays a character who is disillusioned and keen to turn his life over...and is trying hard to but is lost anyway unless he finds redemption

Kolkata itself becomes a character thanks to good cinematography

For a thriller, screenplay lags a bit...but it never feels long...with emphasis on characters, mind boggling twists...clever reveals and an ending that is near perfect make this simple kidnap story...achieve a connect with the characters that is rare in this genre...

Background music and songs deal about pain..and complement well with movie

Must watch for Amitabh fans...A contemporary classic from director Ribhu Dasgupta

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.