As the suspense thriller Te3n completes nine years since its release, director Ribhu Sengupta reflects on the journey of the film that brought together powerhouses like Amitabh Bachchan, Vidya Balan, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. In a candid conversation, he opens up about the enduring legacy of the film, the brilliance of its cast, and what lies ahead in his creative journey.
How do you feel about your film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Vidya Balan and Nawazuddin turning 9?
I can’t believe TE3N is 9 years old. The love the film still gets is really something special, especially for Mr. Bachchan’s extraordinary performance… the way he portrayed a common man from north Kolkata fighting for justice was the highlight of the film.
Mr. Bachchan feels the film is still important for him?
The way he slid, blended into the character of John Biswas, breaking his tall image of ‘angry young man’ of so many years has to be the distinct diverseness in his acting prowess. The film was about detailing and his character, his performance detailed out every small nuisance of the struggle in the story making it emotional and gritty. It was like a masterclass.
The other leads were also effective?
With Vidya and Nawaz together I had landed a casting coup kind of a situation. Incredibly talented star performers of their own genre… a great combination of talent and good humans… a lot of credit also goes to Sujoy (Ghosh) for believing in the film and producing it.
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If you made TE3N now what would you change?
I don’t know exactly what I would change on paper. Creatively if I had to make it again today, but maybe I would make the narrative a bit more brisk.
What next?
I have finished shooting my film with Mr. Bachchan, it is called Section 84 IPC. We are in the last leg of post production and VFX. Then set a plan for the release. Other than that, currently I am developing a couple of scripts which I would like to direct but there is this one script which I would like to (only) produce end of the year or early next year…
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