Horror is a genre that is not fully tapped in Bollywood. Annually, viewers get a chance to enjoy not more than 3 or 4 such films. 13B can be categorized in this horror category, as it has all the elements required for a spooky affair! Also, like most horror films, it’s somewhat revenge drama. But 13B stands out from the rest of the films due to its brilliant story, direction and screenplay! After Bhoot, it is easily the 2nd best horror film!
The story of the movie: Manohar (Madhavan) is an engineer, happily married to Priya (Neetu Chandra). He also has his mother (Poonam Dhillon) and Manohar’s sister, his brother and her wife and two children form the rest of the family. The family has recently shifted to a new building, in a swanky flat, situated on the 13th Floor. Days after moving into this new flat, the women of the family get hooked to a new serial named ‘Sab Khairiyat’. Strangely, the story of this soap and its characters were similar to theirs. A lot of tragic experiences start occurring with Manohar and its family. And one fine day, Manohar realizes that the same incidents are happening in the show too! He gets a bigger shock when he goes to the shooting site of the show!
13B’s biggest plus point is its originality! The story is completely original and cannot be termed as a copy of any Western film. Secondly, it’s the direction and screenplay which made the film a winner! There is countless number of scenes in the film which leaves one spellbound! The first scene of the film itself showcases Director Vikram Kumar’s brilliance. A number of scenes in the first hour were well executed-Manohar’s inability to use the elevator, the scenes with the blind neighbour, etc. However, the best scene has to be when Manohar rushes home from the hospital. Why? To catch the episode of ‘Sab Khairiyat’! The situation in the scene was quite interesting. And then the intermission point was also fantastic!
The 2nd half also works. The flashback sequence was long but was necessary. Finally, the climax was superb too. However, the narrative has some flaws too. Also, the film may seem long to many. Maybe, the director could have chopped off the unwanted romantic song ‘Aasma Odh Kar’.
Madhavan was terrific! I haven’t seen his South films, but I can safely say that this has to be one of his finest performances. He was completely into the character and performed wonderfully. Watch out for his outstanding performance in the pre-climax in Sachin Khedekar’s house! It’s great that we’ll get to see more of Madhavan this year! His next, Sikandar, is releasing next Friday. And he’s also there in Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots!
Deepak Dobriyal was the next best performer in the film. He was marvelous as the mentally challenged patient. His facial expressions were amazing. Neetu Chandra was good, but didn’t have much to do in the film. Poonam Dhillon looked every inch like a TV serial-addicted saas! However, she looked too young for the role of Madhavan’s mother. Sachin Khedekar was fabulous. Equally fabulous was Murali Sharma. Dhritiman Chaterjee, who I remember having seen in 36 Chowringhee Lane, did a great job as the blind neighbour. Suhasini Mulay, Amar Upadhyay and Vinay Jain were good. Others did their job well.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music was okay. ‘Aasman Odh Kar’ and ‘Sexy Mama’ were plain average. However, ‘Sab Khairiyat’ was the best song!!
Tubby-Parik’s background score was terrific and added thrill in the goings on. These unknown composers surely deserve a pat on their backs!
P C Sreeram’s cinematography was spooky, and thus intensified the mood of the film. Watch out those elevator scenes-all were brilliantly shot! Sreekar Prasad’s editing was slick.
Finally, Vikram Kumar, the director, also wrote the story, screenplay and dialogues and he succeeded in every department. Dialogues were good, devoid of any killer lines! Story was fantastic! Screenplay was effective. Direction was flawless and Vikram Kumar comes out with flying colours! If equipped with a brilliant story, he can easily give similar edge of the seat thrillers!
Some of the best scenes of the film:
The first scene
Manohar’s bad experiences with the elevator
Manohar’s scenes with his blind neighbour
The driller in Manohar’s house
Tragedy with Priya
The intermission point
The flashback
The last 20 mins of the film
On the whole, 13B can easily be counted as one of the finest Horror film that has come out in recent times. Its biggest strength is its originality. It may seem dragging to many, but it’s a film which should not be missed by any movie buff! Highly recommended!
My rating- ½
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