There’s a lot you can’t do in eight years. Folks past a certain age know. You can get to a point where life kinda stagnates. Especially for those whom life has selected for trauma. John Biswas (Amitabh Bachchan) lost a granddaughter eight years ago. It was a kidnapping gone bad. And every.single.day since the tragedy, John has shown up as the local police office trying to get a clue (non-metaphorically).
John ain’t in good shape; he spends the non-loitering-at-the-station part of his days taking care of his wheelchair-bound wife and lying to her about his obsession with the kidnapping. And when he finishes that daily checklist, he rides his scooter around town looking for a familiar place to mope; this part reminded me of Chinese tragedy Lost and Love. Now, it wouldn’t be much of a film if it were just John playing Hangdog Millionaire at the police department for 2.5 hours, now, would it? And as if urging our patience, Te3n gives us some backstory and then introduces two plot points: first, John gets a clue in the form of an unmistakable hand-knit hat his granddaughter wore. Second, a kidnapping occurs with the exact same details as the one eight years previous. Hmmmm, isn’t that conveeeeeenient?
The cop on the original case, Martin (Hindi toungue-twister Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is now Father Martin, a Catholic priest. There’s a subtle message for what being a detective does to you. And just when he thought he was out, they pull him back in – new Detective Sarita (Viday Balan) has this crazy idea that maybe the guy who led the investigation of the exact identical crime might be of some use. The film actually devotes minutes of dialogue to Father Martin disputing this point. You know folks, not all Hindi films have to be three hours long. Yeah, I know you’re not going to have song-and-dance numbers about the kidnap-murder of an eight-year-old girl, but that doesn’t mean you have extra time to fill, dig?
Te3n is essentially about two things – crime scene investigation and timeline juxtaposition. The editor had a field day weaving storylines while introducing details both relevant and misleading. I have only been exposed to legendary Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan 
in the past decade, but his casting here is perfect as the man really hasn’t changed in eight years, so you’re –initially- never quite sure where we are in the timeline when the scene changes. Like most Hindi films, Te3n was a little too long, but the final act was much better than I would have guessed. Don’t sell Kolkata thrillers short … even if “Calcutta” is a much better name for a city with a lot of crime.
“Teen” is Hindi for “Three,” hence the poster and screen title of TE3N (not the imdb title “Te3n”) works better as a stylized way of saying “three.” Now, “what,” you may inquire, “has this film got to do with the number three?” I have no freaking idea. Any revelation would be Vishnews to me.
The old man, he searched on and on
For kidnappers long up and gone
For all aches and pains
One question remains
How in Asia do you get the name “John?”
Not Rated, 136 Minutes
D: Ribhu Dasgupta
W: Bijesh Jayarajan, Suresh Nair
Genre: Timeline fun
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of CSI, Kolkata
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: People who cannot figure out the “3” part
