13B

Madhavan - Manohar
Neetu Chandra - Priya
Sachin Khedekar - Dr. Balram Shinde
Murli Sharma - Police sub-inspector Shiva
Poonam Dhillon - Manohar mother

Director: Vikram K. Kumar
Written by: Vikram K. Kumar

(Behindwoods.com) Flight Lt. Ajay Rathore the man behind the high tech engine is now meddling with the TV remote trying hard not to crash land on his own house. Yes, Madhavan the lover boy is back but for the first time tries his hand in the horror genre. Vikram K. Kumar a former assistant of Priyadarshan is quite new to this genre too but ironically directed two romantic movies. With the last few movies of Madhavan did little at the box-office and both the films of the director made no distributor smile either will play against the big opening BIG is expecting. Let’s analyze if this BIG picture’s production is worth a theatre visit.

Vikram K. Kumar has done his homework and has associated some big names into his production to make a movie which keeps you on the hook till the riveting end. The director might have got some inspiration from the local horror serial ‘Aahat’ and maybe even more from Steven Spielberg’s ‘Poltergeist’ but what makes this a joy ride is the screenplay which zooms ahead in the second half of the movie.

While most horror movies falter based on the quality of writing and acting, this has a stronger script and cast than the usual Indian horror movies that end abruptly but the key point of 13B are its chilling final reels. Still a little more gore and a few more deaths would have helped the movie to reach greatness but just manages to stay a branch below.

The movie is about a Civil Engineer Manohar who after moving to a new house in the 13th floor, with his whole family feels the presence of the paranormal. He finds out that a TV show which gets aired at 13 hours every single day is so much in sync with their life. Manohar starts investigating and as always ‘all hell break loose’. Anything more on the story front would be a crime committed to this horror flick.

The Director has done his part well but there is a problem too the first half drags with the usual clichés of an Indian horror which also includes a romantic number in the middle which is totally uncalled for. This does put you off and might drive you off the theatre too. But if you do survive that torturous first half you would experience quite a ride in the second half of this horror.

P.C Sreeram, the veteran cinematographer experiments a lot and some of his experiments work brilliantly and others, especially the hand held shaky sequences does make you shaky too. Editing by Sreekar Prasad is satisfactory. The background music also does its part in increasing the tension of the proceedings. Shankar Ehsaan and Loy’s music is good but totally unneeded for this kind of cinema. The credit roll song, ‘oh sexy mama’ is finely pictured though.

Madhavan acts like a pro as usual, his sequence inside the room panicking and helpless trying hard to convince his police friend to let go is a good example on how matured he has become as an actor. Neetu Chandra has little to play except to look cute and she does that quite easily. Poonam Dhillon as Madhavan’s mom is dignified in a small role which demands little histrionics. While Deepak Dobriyal overdoes his role, Sachin khedekhar impresses us with a seasoned performance.

"13B" is by no means the best horror you could see but it’s not the worst either. If you can wait patiently you are bound to get immersed in the world of Manohar and try to solve the mystery with him.