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Cast:
Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor,
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Rishi Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman, Atul Kulkarni, |
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Supriya
Pathak, Divya Dutta, |
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Year:
2009 |
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Music:
A.R. Rahman
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Lyrics:
Prasoon Joshi |
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Story:
Kamlesh Pandey |
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Banner:
UTV Motion Pictures |
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Producer:
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra |
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Director:
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra |
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| Vikram K
Kumar, the writer director of 13B has had an illustrious
career, which began as an assistant to Priyadarashan. His
latest film, 13B, has been made in Hindi and Tamil, with R
Madhavan and Neetu Chandra playing the lead in both
versions. The film, which belongs to the horror genre might
just about arouse curiousity and generate a tad bit of
suspense, but if it's horror that the makers are doling out,
then they have definitely got the wrong address. There is
nothing in the film which could get one scared; startled
maybe. 13B has an interesting premise and towards the climax
it does manage to pick up pace. But the overall impact is
hardly exciting. |
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The problem with most Hindi horror films is that
makers generally go over the top in the manner in
which they use the background score, right from the
first frame, even before anything horrifying has
begun. It continues right up to the point where they
build up suspense over every little thing. In this
film, for instance, there is an illustrious Bengali
film actor called Dhritiman Chatterjee, who plays
the role of a blind man, who has a guide dog. As he
lives in the same building as Manohar (Madhavan),
the |
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protagonist keeps bumping into him. He hardly has
any role to talk about. In fact, the dog probably has more
to do in the movie. The director just uses this actor as a
red herring, as there is no reason for him to be there in
the film. This over the top attitude is also evident in the
choice of camera angles, specially seen in the first scene.
The film
revolves around Manohar and his family, who have just moved
into their own flat. It is on the 13th floor and the flat
number is, 13B. The women of the house, which includes
Manohar's wife (Neetu Chandra), his mother (Poonam Dhillon)
and his sister in law, spend most of their time in front of
the television, catching all the soaps being aired. After a
while, strange things start happening in the life of Manohar
and his family. It starts with little things gradually, till
one day, when Manohar discovers that one of the TV soaps
called 'Sab Khairiyat Hai', which is telecast everyday at
1pm in the afternoon, seems to be strangely mirroring
everything that is happening in his family. It happens in
the soap first and then the very same incident is played out
in his family. His suspicions get confirmed when his wife
has an accident in the kitchen and is admitted to hospital
in a serious condition. She suffers a miscarriage and the
doctors are unable to diagnose her condition. All of this is
shown happening to the wife of the protagonist of the serial
as well. It's only after her recovery is shown on the soap
that Manohar's wife recovers, much to the surprise of the
doctors. Incidentally, the soap is only beamed in Manohar's
house. He confides in a friend of his, who is a cop (played
by Murali Sharma).
The two try
to investigate into the matter. They dig up some clues and
discover that the family which appears in the soap, was
actually bludgeoned to death many years ago. The bunglow,
where they lived, used to be on the same spot where the
building in which Manohar lives, has now come up. The
address of their house was 13B, which is Manohar's flat
number. Digging into the past, the two discover a tale of
murder and revenge. Manohar needs to unravel the mystery
fast if he wants to save his family from a killer who is out
on the loose. |
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While
the part about the uncanny similarity between the
events in the serial being replicated in real life,
is a little unsettling, the film loses its bite once
the mystery starts to be unraveled. The journey back
into the past and the story of the unrequited lover
is not sufficiently moving enough. Hence when Sachin
Khedekar, the friendly GP, sheds his friendly image,
there is not much of a shock. In fact, one is really
not drawn into the movie and the plight of its
protagonists, except perhaps for Manohar. |
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lies in the manner in which the film has been written. There
is little that writer director Vikram can do to retrieve the
movie. The music of the film has been composed by Shankar
Ehsaan Loy, who deliver a fairly decent score. The
cinematography by PC Sreeram is good.
The only
thing that keeps the film going is the acting prowess of R
Madhavan, with some great support from Murali Sharma. But a
Madhavan is not enough to prop the film. He does his best
and tries to be as natural as possible. He receives little
support from the cast, which includes veteran actress Poonam
Dhillon and talented newcomer Neetu Chandra. Deepak Dobriyal
is just about OK as the madman, while Sachin Khedekar's
character's motives do not appear to be strong enough to
warrant such a crime.
13B comes with a tagline saying that 'Fear has a new
address.
Unfortunately, the film and its treatment do not bear that
out. On the whole, a disappointing experience. |
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