TE3N Movie Review:  Sluggish thriller, It’s no Kahani! Watch it for the performances if you should!

Divay Agarwal

Sometimes a stellar cast of brilliant actors is not enough to hold a film if the story lacks the much needed meat. TE3N, starring veterans like Amitabh Bachchan, VidyaBalan and Nawaz suffers the same fate. No, it’s not a disappointing movie, but a disappointing thriller which gives away its suspense quite easily.

John Biswas (Amitabh Bachchan), an old man who lost his granddaughter 8 years ago in a kidnapping and since then has been searching for clues to find the kidnapper. 8 years later, a similar incident repeats itself and gives new lights to his search. Officer in charge Sarita Sarkar (VidyaBalan) and a cop-turned priest Father Martin (Nawaz) join him in his quest. The story revolves around these three characters and their hunt for the kidnapper. Will they be able to find him is the question the story asks!

Adapting from a Korean thriller called Montage, the director RibhuDasgupta tries hard to keep the audience engaged but fails due the slow paced and predictable storytelling. Thrillers require pace in their storytelling, the audience needs to be on the edge of the seats always. But when you take the story slow, expectations build up for a superb climax and when that doesn’t happen, no one walks out happy. Same is the case with TE3N.

A better screenplay and tighter editing could have made this one a tout thriller. Though the director was really good with the imagery he used from the city of Kolkata. The dullness, the fear, the stagnancy was well brought out in the shots used. Even the background score and songs suited the mood quite aptly.

Amitabh Bachchan always manages to amuse you and that is one trait only legendary actors possess. He as the feeble grandfather is spot on, perfect, makes you cry, makes you part of his hunt and you feel for him throughout. VidyaBalan as the officer does exactly what is expected of her. And then there’s Nawaz, who tries a priest act this time around and doesn’t disappoint you at all with his skills.

If you expect a thriller like Kahani, you’ll be disappointed big time. But you could go and watch it for the performances of the veterans!

Rating – 2.5/5