Expectations

In a country which is obsessed by romantic type of films, a genre like thriller finds it hard to create its own mark. Despite of this we still have filmmakers right from Vijay Anand to Sujoy Ghosh and many more, who ventured into this genre and created their own style of films. While most of them opted for the popular who-done-it format, but then there were a few more who went further more and emphasized more on the film and its content. Sujoy Ghosh’s last released film 'Kahani' was one amongof our country's finest thriller and thus the expectation level raised to its fullest when he announced his latest film ‘Te3n’ under his production. This Amitabh Bachchan - Nawazuddin Siddiqui - Vidya Balan starrer film is yet another thriller with a mysterious tale revolving around it. The names associated with this movie are enough reasons for creating the high expectations and curiosity among the cinema lovers.

Story

'Te3n' is a story of a John Biswas (Amitabh Bachchan) whose only grand daughter gets kidnapped and is helped by police officer Martin Das (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). Eight year passes by but, the local police are not able to find the real culprit behind this criminal activity. Martin leaves the police force and joins the church by becoming Father Martin Das. One fine day John Biswas gets a clue and one more time he decides to seek help from Martin. On the other hand, Martin is also approached by a local police officer Sarita (Vidya Balan) related to a kidnapping of a child which seems similar to the case which happened eight years back.

The 'Glitz' Factor

The story takes its own sweet time to settle, but once done, it goes on a highly gripping mode till the last frame of the film. After the initial snail pace mode the movie goes on a jet speed mode, keeping you totally connected with the flow of the film. There are some fantastic scenes featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Nawazuddin which works in the favour of the film. The movie keeps you glued to it but, as it moves further one can easily predict the events and happenings. The cinematography is of top notch and all the fantastic locations of Kolkata and the happenings around it have been beautifully presented in the film. Music by Clinton Cerejo is good, but, not great. 'Kyun Re' and 'Grahan' goes well with the flow of the film. 'Haq Hai' in the end is the soul of the film and is properly justified by the wonderful expressions by Amitabh Bachchan. The background music works in the favour of the film.Director Ribhu Dasgupta comes up with a unique tale related to thrillers and revenge dramas. He manages to keep you on the edge of the seat in many more parts of the film.

Speaking about Amitabh Bachchan, he is simply outstanding in his role. Amitabh Bachchan slips easily under the skin of his character and enhances it by adding various additional mannerisms. Nawazuddin is good and does his part with total grace. He manages to make his mark in every scene of the film. Sabyasachi Chakrabarthy and Padmavati Rao lend good support.

The 'Non-Glitz' Factor

The story is an official adaptation of a Korean film 'Montage' and has loads of similarities in terms of its narration with recently released yet, another Amitabh Bachchan starrer film 'Wazir'. Though, the whole treatment out here is different and has been set in the heart of the city of the joy - Kolkata.The twist and turns are a bit predictable and the finale revelation fails to enhance the intensity level.While on the negative side, the treatment is super slow at times. Also, there are few loopholes like Vidya assuming the connection between both cases, destroying of tracking device at railway tracks followed by sudden firmness in Vidya's decision in the finale part. These scenes needed proper detailing, failing to which the movie seemed bit weak in these parts. Also, the initial parts were bit abrupt and time consuming.Director Ribhu Dasgupta's treatment in some parts is lethargic and super slow. He should have kept the treatment crispier and the content driven. Failing to which he ends up giving his audience a déjà vu moment related to the film of Amitabh Bachchan. Vidya Balan seemed disconnected with the film due to her half-baked role and fails to come at par with the brilliant performances by Amitabh Bachchan and Nawazuddin.

Final 'Glitz'

'Te3n' has some high-octane performances by its lead actors and has full potential to end up among decently made thriller films from our country. Sadly, the slow pace, predictable twists and non-glamorous looks of the film, dilutes the intensity and might fail to connect with its masala loving film viewers.