6/10/2016 ‘TE3N’ Movie Review: is Excellent, Adequate in This Gripping Thriller | Movie Reviews | indiawest.com

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FEATURED ‘TE3N’ Movie Review: Amitabh Bachchan is Excellent, Vidya Balan Adequate in This Gripping Thriller

R.M. VIJAYAKAR, Special to India-West 16 hrs ago

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Amitabh Bachchan and Vidya Balan in “TE3N.”

I have always had a weakness for thrillers, and few films in that genre beat “Kahaani” in recent times, even at the box office. “TE3N” has common writers-filmmakers and is in a different mold. Other common points: Vidya Balan (this time in a lo-o-ong guest appearance), Amitabh Bachchan as protagonist and singer rather than just a singer, and Kolkata as a location. http://www.indiawest.com/entertainment/bollywood/movie_reviews/te-n-movie-review-amitabh-bachchan-is-excellent-vidya-balan/article_3767db18-2e84-11e6-... 1/3 6/10/2016 ‘TE3N’ Movie Review: Amitabh Bachchan is Excellent, Vidya Balan Adequate in This Gripping Thriller | Movie Reviews | indiawest.com Gritty, real, uncharted terrain — clichés we hear about other films are spot-on in this film as Kolkata becomes the fascinating, aptly antiquated backdrop to this thriller with a fascinating cast of characters: a retired old man named John Biswas (Bachchan) who has lost his granddaughter who was kidnapped for ransom; a guilt-ridden cop Martin Das (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), who despite having an intrepid cop hidden inside of him, turns to priesthood; and a detective cop, Sarita Sarkar (Balan), who is compassionate with John when the old man comes to the police station daily for eight years in the vain hope that some clue surfaces about what exactly went wrong when he lost his granddaughter.

John’s wheel-chair-ridden wife (Padmavati Rao) is helpless and tries to reason with the old man but to no avail. Doggedly, the old man follows the flimsiest lead — and as god helps those who truly want to reach somewhere, he gets a definitive clue that leads to another. And his brain is as sharp as his body is weak and wizened.

Meanwhile, a second kidnapping happens, eight years later, following the convoluted pattern of the first to the proverbial ‘T.’ And as Martin and Sarita follow the leads, simultaneously we see John following the leads he is getting about the old case, very shrewdly placing pieces together. So what happens when the two converge?

A brilliantly-written saga based on the Korean film “Montage,” “TE3N” sucks you into its small world of determination, doggedness and deceit. Intelligently-crafted and Indianized (we have not watched the original), it keeps the viewer enticed by its successive interpolation of past and present, and a deliberate flip-flop between the two separate investigations, with John not a part of what the cops are following and vice versa. The denouement is layered but very convincing.

A towering performance by Bachchan tops the film’s distinctions. He is so credibly weak, helpless, frail and yet determined, patient and resourceful in his own way. His eyes speak enough to convey his emotions, and his body language goes even beyond the 100 percent feat by them. This is Bachchan as he should be at his age and stature: “TE3N” is that able successor to his National Award-winning “Piku” that “Wazir” could not be at all.

Siddiqui is straight and sober, which will be a definite disappointment to his fans after his trio of brilliant performances last year in “Badlapur,” “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” and “Manjhi - The Mountain Man.” He is excellent as Martin, though the see-saw in the script between

http://www.indiawest.com/entertainment/bollywood/movie_reviews/te-n-movie-review-amitabh-bachchan-is-excellent-vidya-balan/article_3767db18-2e84-11e6-... 2/3 6/10/2016 ‘TE3N’ Movie Review: Amitabh Bachchan is Excellent, Vidya Balan Adequate in This Gripping Thriller | Movie Reviews | indiawest.com him as a cop and a church father is not really convincing. Balan is adequate in an ill- defined role. Sabyasachi Chakraborty (as the accused) and Padmavati Rao (as Bachchan’s tolerant wife) are effective. The supporting smaller roles are well done.

The background music () is superlative — but we wish we could say the same for his songs, which are average or below. Tushar Kanti Ray’s camerawork, the production design by Tanmoy Chakraborty, and the sound design by Shajuth Koyeri are brilliant assets to this one.

Watch this one for its sheer ingenuity, though at 136 minutes, it is probably about 16 minutes too long.

Rating: ****

Endemol India, Reliance Entertainment, Cinemaa, Kross Pictures and Blue Water Motion Pictures present “TE3N”

Produced by: Sujoy Ghosh, Suresh Nair, Hyunwoo Thomas Kim, Gauri Sathe and Sameer Rajendran

Directed by: Ribhu Dasgupta

Written by: Suresh Nair, Brijesh Jayarajan and Ritesh Shah from the original by Jeong Keun-seob

Music: Clinton Cerejo

Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vidya Balan, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Padmavati Rao and others

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