‘TE3N’ Movie Review: Slow and steady does NOT win the race

Directed by: Ribhu Dasgupta
Produced by: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vidya Balan, Sabyasachi Chakraborty
Duration: 2 hours 17 minute
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 2/5

Many bizarre things happen in director Ribhu Dasgupta’s debut film, ‘TE3N‘, but the name of the film itself is one of the most bizarre things about it. ‘TE3N’ is one of those rare films which has one of the three most talented powerhouse performers in Hindi cinema – Amitabh Bachchan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vidya Balan (in no particular order) and still doesn’t deliver what it promises in the much loaded trailer. The film has been co-produced by ‘Kahaani’ director, Sujoy Ghosh, and has a strong hangover of Bidda Bagchi’s nail-biting ‘mother of a story’. It would have been better if the makers had called ‘TE3N’ a sequel of ‘Kahaani’, only that Ribhu’s film isn’t a patch on ‘Kahaani’ – only that the visual treatment is eerily similar.

If you have watched the trailer of ‘TE3N’, you already know what to expect, but what you get in the film is far from what you have been told to expect. An official remake of Korean film, ‘Montage’, the three main characters in ‘TE3N’ are John Biswas (Amitabh Bachchan), Father Martin Das (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) and Sarita Sarkar (Vidya Balan) and their intertwined lives that revolve around the kidnap/murder of a little girl Angela Biswas. Of the many bizarre things in this film, one of them is that of Nawaz’s character – Martin was a cop not very long back, but now he is Father Martin – perhaps as random as the recent news of the former ‘Bigg Boss’ contestant Sofia Hayat becoming a nun came out recently.

While one can forgive this sin in the name of creative liberty, what is unpardonable is the fact that things move very steadily, but slowly in ‘TE3N,’ especially for a film of this genre. The makers take a very long time (or so it seems) to establish the world of the main protagonist, John Biswas – how sad he is, how dogged he is about getting justice for his granddaughter Angela – Big B even lends his voice for song about how he misses Angela (the song is not really wanted, but what the heck, Bachchan will flaunt his talents). Vidya Balan’s character is said to have a guest appearance, but this is perhaps one of the longest guest appearances in recent memory. It is difficult to review a film in this genre without giving away spoilers, so let this be an attempt to inform what’s in store.

Eight long years after the death of his granddaughter, John Biswas gets a clue about her murder. One clue leads to another, while the cops are still lost and almost disinterested in Biswas’ case till another similar kidnap happens. Old man Biswas is getting close to solving the case, conveniently getting access to information and living spaces of his suspects. Almost everything in ‘TE3N’ is based on taking the most convenient routes as possible – towards the end the revelatory conversations make you cringe – okay we got it, even before you thought we did. That’s one of the biggest let downs of the storytelling in this film – the intellect of the audience is so underrated here, you almost feel humiliated. Towards the end you feel sorry for Big B, Nawaz and Vidya.

Ribhu Dasgupta’s ‘TE3N’ is one of the biggest disappointments of this year, watch it if you have nothing better to do, or are madly in love with Kolkata, or madly in love the lead protagonists enough, to see them sleep walk through a crime caper that is too slow (and steady) for its own good.

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