Te3n is the story of John Biswas (Amitabh Bachchan), an inconsolably bereaved grandfather who has worn out the soles of his shoes with his daily trips to the local police station. He hopes that the police will provide him with vital clues that will unravel the mystery surrounding the kidnapping and eventual murder of his only granddaughter. It has been eight years since the crime was committed and there has been no progress with the investigation. All Biswas has is some old recordings of the kidnapper’s call with his granddaughter pleading for help, some happy memories of times with his granddaughter and an abundance of remorse. Just when Biswas’s plight seemed devoid of any hope, a kidnapping with an identical modus operandi occurs. The hope for Biswas is that it may provide him answers that he has been longing for and possible closure.
What works for the film is the cryptic manner in which the plot unfolds. Various pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are arbitrarily presented to the audience allow them to decide the order in which they fit. Then we have several instances of parallel narration such as the clever switching between the occurrences eight years ago to the present day and an adroit juxtaposition of the formal investigating by the police and we see Bachchan’s amateur attempts to unravel the mystery. There are plenty of twists and turns that will keep the grey cells occupied and then there is the final twist. But as riveting as the mystery may be, this is a character study of individuals dealing with a loss that is irreparable.
The depiction of bereavement, remorse or grief on screen has always been a great challenge for filmmakers. Books have it relatively easy, an author can dedicate lengthy descriptions to the plight of the character and the occurrences. For a film maker the challenge is to depict it without being exploitative or melodramatic or inundating the proceedings with copious dialogue. In real life, when the tears dry up the emotions associated bereavement or grief or remorse are internal with very little to demonstrate. The journey to either overcome or live with the pain is often a lonely process. Most may choose to overcome bereavement by moving on while some may seek revenge, then there are those who may choose to work within the perimeter of the law to seek justice. While justice may be the morally right act to commit, revenge is about self-gratification. These are the recurring themes of Te3n.
An easy route would have been to focus on the mystery and just have the human elements as a backdrop, but the script by Bijesh Jayarajan and Suresh Nair does the opposite, as the film is focuses on the human story. One could argue that the labyrinthine plot is merely vehicle upon which the film depicts a sensitive human. We witness the various players who chose to deal with this loss in their own way. There is John Biswas who is inconsolable and yet resolute in his mission in life to resolve the mystery. There is Biswas’s invalid wife who wishes that her husband would just move on and begin to live a regular life. There is a policeman who deals with deep remorse by turning his back on his profession to become a pastor despite lacking the proclivity for it. To those seeking easy thrills, the depiction of the seemingly mundane may appear as purposeless or even as an unnecessary impedance of pace. But these are moments that allow the audience to learn about the magnitude of the plight of Biswas’s grief. This works as a strong emotional backbone to the eventual proceedings of the film as the mystery is resolved. The reason they film is compelling is because we want to see John Biswas get some solace more than we want the suspense to be revealed.
What also works for the film is the beautiful cinematography by Tushar Kanti Ray. The city of Kolkata serves as a perfect backdrop for the story. The barely lit rooms, the dark and lonely alleys, the barely populated trams, the Durga Pooja processions at night and dingy government offices create an atmosphere that it equally spooky as it is bleak. The background score by Clinton Cerejo adds to the eeriness while the background songs serve almost like a Greek chorus to that adds more emotional depth to the proceedings. It was rather brave of director Ribhu Das Gupta to choose such a complex and difficult story for his debut film. He manages to land on his feet with the film excelling in every department.
But if there is one element that this film could not have done without, it is Amitabh Bachchan. With over four decades of superstardom under Bachchan’s belt, the temptation often is to choose projects that highlight the attributes that he is popular for and give the audience what they want, resulting in the box office cash registers ringing. It is very brave of Bachchan take on a role that demands that he shed all his signature attributes such as his deep baritone voice and his commanding screen presence for John Biswas, a man whose struggles have taken a toll on every aspect of his being. We see him slouch ponderously at the police station, struggle to kick start his barely functioning scooter, drag a ladder across the room to fix a malfunction celling fan, forget the name of the soup that he has prepared for wife, gaze listlessly as his wife pleads with him to move on and plead for help with uncooperative government officials. With his droopy shoulders, his subdued speech pattern, bedraggled appearances, noticeable languorous body movement and vacant expressions, Bachchan adeptly nails every aspect his character, this is no longer acting, it is what the method actors call becoming. There is little trace of Amitabh Bachchan in Te3n, it is all John Biswas. Bachchan also manages to portray Biswas’s inner resoluteness and anger that is buried deep under his considerable despondency. It is this steadfastness that that compel Biswas to carry the fight and resolve the mystery. This is a performance so eminent that it could be the sole reason for watching this film.
All I can say is that I haven’t seen Picasso paint, I haven’t heard Mozart compose, but I consider myself rather fortunate to have witnessed high art as I see Amitabh Bachchan act.
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Running time: 133 MIN.
Production
Reliance Entertainment, Endemolshine India, and Blue Waters Pictures in association with Sujoy Ghosh present a Cinemaa and Kross Pictures Production. Produced by Sujoy Ghosh, Gulab Singh Tanwar, Hyunwoo Thomas Kim, Suresh Nair, Sameer Rajendran, Gauri Sathe, Deepak Dhar, Abhijit Ghatak, Ram Miirchandani, Sameer Rajendran, Aniruddh Tanwar. Co-producer, Woo-Taek Kim. Associate producer, Ramesh Pulapaka. Supervising producer, Mohammed Attarwala.
Crew
Directed by Ribhu Dasgupta. Written by Bijesh Jayarajan, Suresh Nair, with dialogue by Ritesh Shah; camera (color, widescreen), Tushar Kanti Ray; editor, Gairik Sarkar; production designer, Tanmoy Chakraborty; costume designers, Neelanchal Ghosh, Darshan Jalan; music, Clinton Cerejo; visual effects supervisor, Sandeep Kamal.
With
Cast
Amitabh Bachchan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vidya Balan, Sabyasachi Chakraborty.
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