Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; June 10, 2016)

Vidya Balan has a full-fledged role in Te3n, yet she has been credited with a special appearance. Those who have seen the latest release are wondering why the actress kept referring to her role as an ‘extended cameo’ during the promotions of the film when role is meaty and akin to being the actress of the film.

So what was the need to label her act in the cameo category? Buzz is that as Ribhu Dasgupta’s film stars Amitabh Bachchan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the makers felt that it was better to give Vidya a special appearance tag. She is known for her acting chops, but in this project the film revolved more around the Big B and Nawaz.

Says a source, “Vidya agreed to do the film due to her association with Sujoy Ghosh, the film’s creative
producer. They could have taken another actress for the role, but when Vidya gave her nod, they knew she deserved better, so decided to give her a special appearance tag.”

Sujoy Ghosh maintains, “It was my call. She does not have such a big role that is being made out to be. When you will watch the film you will understand. I felt giving her a special appearance in the credits was justified.” Those who have seen the film still insist that she has a long enough role, almost on par with Nawazuddin.

Vidya promoted the film to the hilt despite the special appearance tag, but the actress preferred not to comment about her credit in the film.
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Subhash K Jha (DNA; June 10, 2016)

It seems contemporary leading ladies tend to feel insecure about Big B even now. We had the case of Deepika Padukone who after Piku “forgot” to invite Mr Bachchan for the success party. Now in director Ribhu Dasgupta’s Te3n, Vidya Balan’s presence is billed as a ‘guest appearance’.

Says a source from the production, “Vidya knew from the start that Te3n revolved around Mr Bachchan’s character. She agreed to come on board because of her old relations with producer Sujoy Ghosh, but insisted she be billed a ‘guest’ in the plot.”

And never mind if she is in the film from beginning to end. It’s not enough for Ms Balan to be a pivotal character.