Mar 08, 2009 03:18 AM
1166 Views
13B is a decent "horror/psychological" thriller which is worth your money.Its not flawless but still I would recommend it to you.
India has a long way to go in making a classic movie in this genre. I personally feel this kind of subject has a tremendous potential if dealt in a matured way. 13 B tries to walk in that path and succeeds in some way.
The plot though old but is engrossing where a family moves into a new apartment and odd things start to happen. Yes you have seen that before in Bhoot, Vaastu Shastra, Hawa etc but still there are many things in 13B that you have not experienced before.Most of the horror movies have similar plots with normal people caught in disturbing situations but what distinguishes a good movie from the rest is how the events are justified at the end. I'm sure you all would relate with Madhavan(Manohar Moore), his brother with their wives, sister, mother and kids and their activities. A blind neighbour and his dog, a faulty lift etc adds up to the atmosphere nicely.The first half of the movie drags though and the songs didn't help at all. I personally gave up after the first up but the way the movie rediscovered itself in the second half is amazing.
The television and a daily soap plays a very significant role in the movie; how and why you figure out yourself. Manohar realises that there is somthing wrong and the daily soap is remarkably similar to his family and the proceedings.The director however fails to explain that how the ladies of the house fail to identify such an obvious set of similarities. He asks for his friend's Shiva's(Murli Sharma) help and along with few inputs from his family doctor, they crack the mystery. There are not many scary moments in the film but right from the second half, it is gripping and gets real complicated.
The things that I really liked about the film is it rarely tries to scare you unnecessarilly. The clues will be right in front of your eyes(watch carefully) and will invite you to help Manohar understand the puzzle. It is not as predictable as you might think and maybe that is what makes 13B enjoyable.
Better editing(at least 15mins too long) and more prominant sound track would have boosted the movie's overall packaging. The dialogues could have been better executed as often the communication among the family members sound half baked.
Overall, 13B dares to venture into the underexplored genre and I'm sure will win few fans in this process.like me!
