Starring actors Madhavan and Neetu Chandra in the lead roles, it seems Madhavan has finally been given a chance to prove his acting skills in 13B. After Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein, Madhavan has had little chance to receive much applause in the box office. In other films like Dil Vil Pyaar Vyaar, Rang De Basanti and Guru, Madhavan’s roles were short-lived and he was never given a lead role. Director Vijay Kumar must have seen that this actor from the South is just as able to play frontline characters, and it seems Madhavan has not disappointed his audience.
13B is an apartment on the 13th floor of a residential building where Manohar (Madhavan) has moved with his wife Priya (Neetu Chandra), mother (Poonam Dhillon), brother, sister-in-law and nephews, both brothers having taken loans to shift to their new apartment. Things are normal and everyone is happy in the beginning. But when the women of the house start getting hooked on the idiot box to watch their daily serials, things start to get creepy and weird.
The ladies love the new serial Sab Khairiyat in which the incidents which unfold are eerily similar to whatever is going on in their own lives inside the 13B apartment. Oblivious to this strange coincidence, the women become addicted to this daily soap which is aired on the 13th hour of each day. But, slowly, Madhavan starts to notice weird things happening to him. For instance, the elevator doesn’t work when he uses it alone, the picture on his new mobile set always appears blurred and twisted, and his blind neighbor’s dog refuses to enter his apartment.
He finally observes that the unfortunate accidents that transpire in the television soap eventually also happen to members of his own family. Flummoxed he determines to get to the bottom of this phenomenon with the help of his cop friend Shiva (Murali Sharma). What happens next? You will have to find it out for yourself.
The film gently takes one out of their comfort zone and over to a very dark and paranormal side. What’s most interesting about the movie is that there are no clichés with ghosts appearing from nowhere with Dracula teeth, as is the case in other Bollywood horror flicks. No ghosts drift out of wardrobes or bathtubs, and no dead bodies rise from the grave. It’s just the problematic elevators, distorted images on cell phones, flickering bulbs, and the mysterious teleserial with its ominous calamities that provides the jitters. The great cinematography done by PC Sreeram deserves a special mention. In addition, 13B has an excellent background score which goes well to create anticipation and thrill in each scene. Director Vikram Kumar, however, could have been more careful with the screenplay as it’s not quite up to scratch.
Another minus is that 13B could have been much better without the songs. Why do horror films require cheesy rhythmic lines anyway? In addition, the film moves very slowly at times, and could have been wrapped in 1.30 or 1.45 hours maximum, rather than drawing it out unnecessarily to 2.30 hours. Sometimes you feel like screaming!
Much of what happens in the film remains unresolved on its conclusion. For example, what was the connection between the distorted images on Madhavan’s cell phone and him? And why did the spirits choose Madhavan? It seems Vikram Kumar could have worked more on the script.
However, Madhavan’s acting ability is worthy of applause. Neetu Chandra fits her character perfectly, just as she did in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Traffic Signal, and Poonam Dhillon is still charming and well-suited to play a woman in love with TV serials.
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