Teenkahon

Teenkahon consists of 3 stories Nabalok,Post Mortem and Telephone.Cinema as a craft is quite complicated as it involves numerous skill sets to produce the final product.According to me two things make or break a movie (1) the story telling and (2) balancing the numerous skill sets appropriately in the movie. Debutant director Bauddhayan Mukherjee showed his mastery in dealing with both these elements, making Teenkahon a modern day classic.The simplicity with which complex scenarios are presented is a rarity in today's Indian Cinema. Nabalok explores the mind of a child with respect to relationships with women in great depth but in a very polished manner.The director kept his patience with the camera to capture the mood of every scene.One can see the "Ray Influence" in Nabalok,but never at the cost of originality. Post Mortem my favorite of the three is just fascinating as it explores the contradictions within a person in very subtle and unique way using camera,situation and the actors.Popular Bengali actor Sabyasachi Chakrabarty has been unshackled from his typical self and this will remain one of his best or may be the best performance. In the last story Telephone which is incidentally written by the director himself is a typical mystery but presented in a very unique way keeping the audience attentive throughout. Rituporna Sengupta again showed that with a good director she can reach exceptional heights. Asish Vidyarthi who plays the role of a cop and husband to Rituporna combined his facial expressions with great physical acting.

The casting in Teenkahon has been excellent and specially the young boy in Nabalok will live with me for a long time.The only area where Teenkahon could have done better (anyway it is good) is the use of music.

Hoping to see more from Bauddhayan Mukherjee.....

Teenkahon comes across as trying too hard to be art-house. The checklist seems to be taken care of – it is full of things you'd expect in such cinema. The cinematography, for instance, is a lovely black and white in the first story Nabalok. There are beautiful visuals of the countryside and the Rabindra sangeet is mesmerising. Likewise, the other two stories too have their bits of wonder whether in the form of acting (Sabyasachi Chakraborty is extraordinary) or the theme or some really clever screenplay (in the third part).

But all put together, you can sense that it is trying too hard. None of the stories really pull you in the way they should. It doesn't give the sense of an organically evolved script. Now, this is a complaint which isn't easy to articulate but I'll try.

I'll use comparison. Take Asha Jhawar Majhe, another art house Bengali film that made some waves recently. Nothing much happens through its runtime. Or at least, it appears like nothing much happens. But it all comes together towards the end. It feels like the film crystallises suddenly and my heart felt a firm tug as the lady sets off to work again at the end. Everything seems so right about the film. Masterfully shot, enacted, and directed.

But Teenkahon often feels forced. It feels like a bunch of nice things stuck on a inherently nice idea but they don't really work well together. Often the staging feels sub par and sometimes the acting doesn't come through. One could blame these issues on the inexperience of the director (Teenkahon is Bauddhayan Mukherjee's debut) but this is often a problem of ambition that doesn't match with vision. Mukherjee seems to be full of ambition but without the vision of the master that he seems to aim to be.

Teen (=three) Kahon (=stories, story-tellings) is billed as a triptych, but to me, it was not a three-fold story. The film is comprised of three separate stories - powerful stories by their own rights - that were bound together by a single thematic underpinning: all-consuming, obsessive love. None of these three was the typical Bollywood-flavored love stories that are churned out annually by the various vernacular film industries of India. Each story was complex, many-layered and gut-wrenching in their own way.

Some other reviewers have accused this director, Mukherji, of following too closely the other celebrated film-maker from his state, Bengal, the illustrious Satyajit Ray. Ray's influence, given his stature, is perhaps not an easy thing to avoid for serious film-makers of Mukherji's generation, but I didn't get that sense from these three films. Rather, the presentation and the color techniques used changed from film to film - and it seemed that the director has aimed to recreate small vignettes from three different periods of Indian cinema, perhaps his way of paying tribute to the 100 years of Indian movie-making.

I would recommend this highly to lovers of quality International cinema. I understand the language (Bangla), but the subtitles seemed to run from the screen a little too fast, which may make it difficult for non-Bengali audiences to get the nuances.

One of the films i cannot forget after watching ..and its really intense..This Film may also scare you by its depiction of eroding human value system but then its a dark reality...The 3 stories here describe the change in thought process, emotional capacity,sensibilities about obsessive love ..it also depicts the change of language, lifestyle and attitude of people in our society since last 100 years..one question viewer may ask why to Show Obsessions and why Repression or Fear in name of Love ? ANd that is the point here this film is trying to make.. in the Present corporate & digital age where everything from fast food chains to shopping malls to education to personal relations - everything seems like a facade and no one really cares about anyone anymore except for their own desires & survival..this film sums its all.. ....please don't compare it with works of previous bengali film makers or European cinema of 70s to 90s..just watch it and enjoy the labour of love by debutant director Baudhayan Mukherjee ...its well shot , good sound mixing and great acting by some debutant as well seasoned actors

This movie revolves around relations not defined by society.As the name suggests three stories neatly told and evidence of inspiration from Masters of Bengali Cinema.. The first story..a story of innocence and love that demands possessiveness and manipulation and the magic of Black and white will tie you up. Second story is an excellent one room show between a husband and a lover of a same woman and the decision to bring forward the one responsible for her suicide.The story is superbly told with cinematography being excellent you will feel connected! Third one is my personal favorite with twists and turns and ....the lust and shadows of human manipulation!!! A must watch for those who understand movies...