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.
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