I know both of us, while being kept spellbound, were unconsciously comparing both versions. It is a film that one can't quite conveniently pigeonhole into the usual boxes. 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 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. 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. It is impossible to write a synopsis without unintentionally dropping a spoiler, so I am going to keep it very simple. We already know how everything would pan out but we were still kept spellbound. If you have seen Hindi remakes you would know they can often surprise you with a new spin on familiar proceedings. Not for him the clichéd overdoing of Os.Ĭinematographer Tushar Kanti Ray shoots Calcutta beautifully, even if the production design is more than a tad on the nose, with clusters of framed vintage photographs better suited to the backdrop to tony Bandra eateries trying to appear old-world instead of just a wall in John Biswas' house.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. "Father Martin?"Īnd, of course, by Bachchan, who exposes Siddiqui's sloppy accent work as the younger actor stumbles over 'Ripon Sitreet' in the most un-Bengali fashion, the veteran expertly drops in subtle touches like saying 'kidnapar' as only Bengalis could. He is completely shown up by the reliably effective Vidya Balan who, with one disbelieving mention of his name, dangling question mark raised at the end like an eyebrow, brings alive character and context immediately. The actor, perhaps in a bid to create a coldly efficient character, plays his part too drily to be as compelling as the film demands, and - worse still - delivers unfunny lines with the air of a comic waiting for a laugh. This, it must be said, is not Siddiqui at his brightest. Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays Father Martin, a former policeman (now a short-sleeved clergyman) who happens to be John's confidante. It's difficult not to predict the film's twist, and - the fundamental problem in films that hinge too critically on that massive twist - when that doesn't fall into place, the whole house of cards collapses to the ground.īachchan, as said, plays John The Victim, a grieving-bereaving role uncannily similar to the one he played in Wazir mere months ago. Tragically, however, they haven't been clever at all. One of the most exasperating things about Hindi movies are their over-reliance on flashbacks, their need to spoon-feed audiences by reminding them of something they saw 10 minutes ago, and the last half-hour of Te3n goes on interminably, recapping the entire film as if to show us how clever they've been. A remake of the Korean thriller Montage, Te3n unfolds its dramatic plot - too sluggishly - but this isn't too bad until we hit the climax, after which the film's makers are too obsessed with Bachchan (and his reactions to the climax, and its twist) to let the story work. He's terrific in the part, evocative and righteous and overreaching for the truth but alas, Dasgupta seems too smitten with Bachchan to get a move on and tell the story. The actor shuffles through both bewilderment and clarity, everything a struggle for his John Biswas, from starting a scooter to remembering the name of the soup he's making. Age - and, indeed, time - are important parts of director Ribhu Dasgupta's narrative in his confoundingly titled thriller, and Bachchan is the ideal choice for the part of an inconsolable grandfather, doggedly desperate to find out about a long-ago kidnapping that led to his granddaughter's death.