|
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
By Joginder Tuteja, May 2, 2009 - 16:24 IST
MOVIE DETAILS
Cast: Madhavan, Neetu Chandra, Deepak Dobriyal, Poonam Dhillon, Murali Sharma
Director: Vikram K. Kumar
Producer: BIG Pictures
Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Lyrics: Neelesh Misra
THE FILM
It's an easy task to pick a film, rip it apart, find innumerous loopholes and label it as a non-starter, especially so when it's a small/medium budget film. But then the biggest of blockbusters have been embellished with at least a dozen odd loopholes and we haven't really complained much. Recent examples? Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Ghajini, Raaz - The Mystery Continues and even Slumdog Millionaire. We have hailed them (rightly so because each of them deserved all the appreciation and the box office results) but chosen to ignore the questions that would have come to the mind of even an 8 year old. But then when a first timer looks at experimenting with genre, subject and story telling (and succeeds to a big extent), there are fingers being pointed at things that are big as well as small.
How did only Madhavan understand the mystery while his family members remained oblivious to the message being passed on via a TV serial? Why did the spirits take such a long time in making Madhavan aware of the truth? Why was the flashback portion so long drawn? Questions, questions and more questions have been raised by those who took the film a little too seriously! But if one is willing to avoid scratching the surface and instead concentrate on sheer thrills that the film brings along with it, 13B makes for a worthy watch. 13B is indeed one of the slickest ever urban supernatural thrillers ever churned out of Bollywood.
13B comes with a one line premise. It says that the human brain is the most complex machinery that the world has ever seen. And it asks a simple question - If we can trust the spirits to possess a human being as a medium to interact with the outside world, why can't they use machinery to do the same? In this case this machinery happens to be a TV set. It is this TV set that creates havoc in the life of Madhavan and his family. The spirits use this medium to interact with this family, to tell them a story, to reveal a crime.
What works most for 13B is its tout narrative. In spite of a near two and a half hours length, you don't really feel bored. In fact till the interval point you don't even know why and where are the things happening and for whom. Yes, the songs are a big bore, in fact a huge hindrance, and the couple of them that appear in the first half are completely unnecessary. It's towards the last 45 minutes that the chapters start unfolding. Layers after layers are revealed and though you feel that you have cracked it all, that's hardly the case. Vikram Kumar keeps the narrative tight and makes his audience ask for more. It's a rocking climax that succeeds in giving a jolt as it is completely unpredictable and absolutely original.
What also really does wonder for 13B is Madhavan's apt casting. He is simply superb as a man who has been tormented by a TV set. Any other actor with a set image may not have been able to do justice to this movie. The actor is simply superb, fantastic! Also, what aids his performance is some cool technical finesse that comes with the movie. Cinematography, editing, sound design, background score - everything comes together brilliantly to make 13B eligible for some awards coming it's way at least on the technical front.
PACKAGING
The DVD comes in a sleek-n-attractive plastic case with a dark base to it, something that goes with the film's theme.
DURATION
The film's duration is ~ 140 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES
The DVD doesn't come with any special features
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
- Subtitles in English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo
PRICE
Rs. 199/=
CONCLUSION
This is a movie made for the big screen due to it's all around technical brilliance. And if you missed a chance to do so a few weeks back when it saw a theatrical release, go for it now on home video at night with your sound system intact, a tub of popcorn in hands and lights switched off. It's a fantastic, fabulous and a fun movie to be watched.
  
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
