13 B (2009)

My two thumbs up for Director Vikram Kumar who made this gripping thriller. First one for his well written script & second for his crackling & detailing direction. I’ve read that Kumar was keen to work with R Madhvan & had approached him earlier but he rejected his offer & demanded a better script. So Kumar spent two years to come up with the story idea & four to pen down a hardbound script of 13B. Love’s labor was not lost & ultimately Madhvan loved the script & instantly signed the project. The film was then shot in 40 days flat. & Kudos to that brilliant script which makes you hooked in the edge on the seat second half.

So what’s 13 B? Well, it’s a jinx number. A family messed up in their newly purchased flat. The first half is just average which projects focus on several unimaginable incidents in their flat- a lift refuses to function, disfigured images taken by mobile cam, milk splits everyday, nobody can hit a nail in the pooja room & jarring & suspicious television serial which resembles with the lives of the family members. And I thought for a minute- Am I watching some superstitious crap nonsense or what???

But hey, the film bowled me over in the second half. It’s really intriguing & successfully kept the tension rolling for the audience with twists & turns of the story. The revelation of suspense is just awesome. And I ‘m not going to spoil it by revealing anything further.
Madhvan always do selective films & most of the time he comes with bingo performance. He has an expressive face & natural body language which suits his roles perfectly. Watch his expressions of fear in this & you will agree with me. Rest of the players has also played their parts as naturally as possible but I specially like to mention the performance of Deepak Dobriyal, who has acted the role of Ashok in the film. He’s really a revelation. (Remember the actor who was guided by Saif Ali Khan in ‘Omkaara’)
Technically also the film is faultless & successfully enhances the thrilling effect for the audience. The only thing which I would like to edit in the film is cutting of those two songs in the first half.

A Strong recommendation of the week but it’s my humble request to watch it in theatre.
No piracy for this sort of talented & promising director’s film please.

Ratings- 8/10