Teen Behenein (Three Sisters), a low-budget Indian film, is a fascinating glimpse into a modern society plagued by anachronistic customs. The story centers on the last six hours in the lives of three sisters who are about to commit suicide because their parents are unable to pay their dowry.
The scenery consists of one location, the sisters' impoverished home, which they fail to exit throughout the movie. Perhaps to convey the sense of confinement that the sisters experience, they never go past their backyard, a metaphor that becomes somewhat frustrating after the first hour. Overloaded with dialogue, the film relies too heavily on theatrical tropes, evidenced by the direct quotes from Anton Chekhov's play, The Three Sisters, upon which the movie is based. As a result, the sisters constantly refer to their parents, but they never appear. The few outside characters who do visit them, an aunt and a couple of powerful townsmen, talk about the outside world while it forever remains unseen.
In true Bollywood fashion, the sisters burst out into song every now and then amidst the ambivalence of whether or not they will terminate their lives - which, even if oddly morbid, adds much needed entertainment value to the film.
The performances are credible enough to convey the story, but the talking-directly-into-the-camera technique of the last scene (in which the sisters warn others against following in their footsteps) spells it out blatantly for the audience while giving it the feel of an afterschool special. While the film attempts an earnest discussion, it ultimately dims viewers' interest with its over the top theatrics.
