Bollywood actress Vidya Balan knew that her role in the thriller Te3n wasn’t the meatiest or the mightiest, but what intrigued her was the unusual spin to it.
“I did this film for the sheer joy of it. My role isn’t big, but tell me, how many Bollywood films do you get to watch where the central role is played by a seventy-year-old man? And he isn’t some gun-toting, brawny. muscled-up man here,” said Balan in an interview with tabloid!. The usual baggage that comes with a big Bollywood film has been done away with for Te3N, starring Amitabh Bachchan as a grandfather grappling with the murder of his grandchild, alongside Nawazuddin Siddiqui, whose character makes a radical career change.
“The premise of this film was so interesting. And Nawazuddin plays a cop-turned-priest ... In my career, the length of my role never mattered to me. When I did Ghanchakkar [a comedy featuring Emraan Hashmi as the lead actor], people questioned my choice and said: ‘would you do a film when you are not the one driving the story forward?’. When you watch Gravity, some may wonder what George Clooney is doing there, but you still remember him, right?” said Balan, whose credits include thrillers such as No One Killed Jessica and Kahaani.
In Te3N, she plays Sarita Sarkar, Kolkata-based policewoman who had been entrusted with solving the case of John Biswas’ (Bachchan) missing grandchild. The culprit, who kidnapped and murdered the young girl, was never found, but when a similar kidnapping takes place eight years later, Biswas embarks on a mission to find the culprit. He’s convinced there’s a link between these two kidnapping cases.
“It’s their search for answers that often keeps them active. It’s not a formal exercise, but could be an informal search. This is exactly what John Biswas, the character I play in TE3N, is intent on achieving,” said Bachchan in an email interview with tabloid!.
Directed and written by Ribhu Dasgupta, the thriller — just like Balan’s Kahaani — takes you into the inner lanes of Kolkata.
While Bachchan isn’t one to give much away, tabloid! digs into his deepest fears, his nostalgia for Kolkata and what he learnt from his talented colleagues, Balan and Siddiqui.
The Te3n trailer reveals the deepest fear of every parent or grandparent: a child going missing. What were your thoughts when the film was narrated to you?
Frankly, when we hear a script we do not immediately try to internalise the gravity of the content. What we concentrate on is the creativity, the part to play, the makers who shall deliver and who are in charge of the project. But yes, you do bring about a pertinent question: the worry and the anxiety that all parents go through where their loved ones are concerned. It’s a fear that we all go through.
What made the trailer of Te3n riveting was that the grandfather was struggling for closure after the disappearance of his grandchild. Do you think having closure makes grief more enduring? Or is the lack of closure the worst way to live?
There can never be closure on a tragedy involving your loved ones. It’s a given that the tragedy remains within us and persists in our thoughts. There are times when there’s an irregularity or details surrounding the unfortunate deed, so it becomes imperative for those who are grieving to make attempts until their last call in finding out the facts and what went down. There are many real-life cases that we read about today that are unfortunate and those affected are still searching for facts or seeking justice. Therefore, the lack of closure is a festering wound for those who live that tragedy every hour of their life. They are engulfed with the desire to find out what happened and their will remains strong. It’s their search for answers that often keeps them active. It’s not a formal exercise, but could be an informal search. This is exactly what John Biswas, the character I play in Te3N, is intent on achieving.
How vulnerable did you feel while playing this role and did you bring your personal experience to it?
I felt as vulnerable as the person writing the script or the dialogue of this film. Personalising the story or the character has many other connotations for an actor and that topic calls for another detailed discussion. As I said earlier, there are occasions when you delve into your own circumstances and draw from it to represent the character in a film. These are various methods that actors use or don’t use. There were times during Te3N’s filming that these thoughts invaded my mind. The biggest challenge in my head was to be as close to the character that the writer and the director had designed in their minds.
How was it revisiting Kolkota, popularly known as the city of joy, and what do you like about it? If I were to visit Kolkata, where would you suggest I go?
Kolkata was my first ‘city of job’. That is an important phase in a person’s life and this city has a natural attraction due to this factor. And after having spent almost eight years of my first independent life [there], many memories... are associated with this city. But, most importantly, it has been the people of Kolkata that have proved to be the biggest attraction for me. They are the soul of the city and in many respects its passion and its culture. Being in their midst is just so enticing and invigorating. Regarding your question about what you should do: Well, just land there and go to any corner of the city. You shall have sufficient material to see and do.
Balan and Siddiqui are strong actors. What are your observations about them and what was your dynamic with them?
Both Vidya and Nawaz are extremely talented artistes and it has been a great learning [experience] for me to be in their company,
If I were a fly on the wall on the sets of TE3N, what would I see on a regular filming day?
On a regular filming day, you will have to gear yourself up for a lot of travelling. Mobility in and around Kolkota and getting to various locations for Te3N is one of the mainstays of our filming.
In the age of oversharing on social media, how relevant are full-length feature films?
What you share on social media shall always be limited — at times to just 140 alphabets — and that does not take anything away from a film, which is seen in totality on a large screen. Films shall always be relevant. That is a content that shall remain constant, irrespective of how it is delivered to the audience.
What makes for a great murder mystery or a thriller? Which are your favourite ones and why?
It is the suspense of how it all happened that becomes the most exciting feature of any mystery thriller. Te3N is no different from any other thriller. Some of Alfred Hitchcock’s films have been favourites.
A suspense thriller without a thrilling end is soul-destroying. Do you fear that the ending may not be satisfying?
That shall be for the audience to decide. It would be silly of us to make a product that is not soul stirring — surely we [do] not go out to deliberately make a wrong or bad film.
What would you tell all those parents, grandparents and family members who are struggling to cope with the loss of a loved one?
My prayers and emotions are with them. Sudden and tragic loss of a loved one is the most traumatic and one has to cope with it. But such is life, you learn to live with it and its circumstances.
What are you deepest and darkest fears?
The well-being of my loved ones.
What did you learn personally from acting in Te3N?
That it is most difficult to be simple in front of the camera.
Is there a significance to the digit 3 in this thriller?
Indeed yes, and we shall all be anxious to know from you and the audience whether you are able to spot it or not. That shall also form a part of the mystery.
Don’t miss it!
Te3n releases in the UAE on June 9.
