Yavarum Nalam

''Yavarum Nalam'' () is a 2009 Indian horror film written and directed by Vikram Kumar. The film stars R. Madhavan and Neetu Chandra. Produced by Suresh Balaje and George Pius, the film was simultaneously shot in Hindi as ''13B: Fear Has a New Address'' with a slightly different cast. It was also later dubbed into Telugu as ''13-Padamoodu'', featuring a few scenes reshot with Ravi Babu. The film's soundtrack was composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, while Tubby-Parik provided the background score. Released on 6 March 2009, the film received mixed reviews but was commercially successful. Rediff placed the film in its list of top Tamil films of 2009, while the American entertainment publication ''Collider'' considered it an original and one of the greatest Indian horror films of all time, praising its mixing elements of J-horror with a unique storyline.

A web series with a similar theme called ''Dhootha'' written and directed by Vikram Kumar was released in 2023. Some have speculated that ''Yavarum Nalam'' and ''Dhootha'' exist in the same universe, while others have said that ''Dhootha'' is a standalone sequel to ''Yavarum Nalam''.

Plot

Manohar moves into a new apartment, 13B, on the 13th floor with his family. They encounter a series of small but strange incidents, which are regarded as inauspicious by his family but shrugged off by Mano. The elevator in the apartment works for everyone in the building except Mano, which bothers him.

The women in the family get hooked on a new TV show, ''Yavarum Nalam'' (''Everyone is Well'') / ''Sab Khairiyat'' (Hindi version)). The show is about a family very similar to Mano's who have also moved into a new house. As the show unfolds, Mano notices the incidents happening in the serial reflect what is happening to his family: his sister graduating, or his wife Priya getting pregnant and later suffering a miscarriage. Priya is saved by their longtime family friend and doctor, Dr. Balram aka Balu / Dr. Shinde. The rest of the family remains oblivious to the similarities. Mano goes to the production company of the serial to inquire about it. To his horror, he discovers that Yavarum Nalam / Sab Khairiyat is a different TV show. The serial that his family watches appears only in his house, every day, at 1:00 PM.

Back at home, Mano finds an album with photographs of the family from the serial, as well as one man he does not recognize. He then unravels a terrifying secret: the apartment they live in shared its address with a house where another family of eight was murdered in 1977, and that the house was built in the same place where Mano's apartment stands. It was the family of a TV news anchor, Chitra. On the day of Chitra's engagement, an ardent fan, Sairam, wanted to stop the engagement because of his obsession with her. He warned that he would kill everyone without leaving a piece of them. But, failing to convince them, he killed himself the very next day. It was revealed that all members of Chitra's family (including Chitra too) were murdered with a hammer on the same day as Sairam's death. The blame rested on the lunatic brother Senthil / Ashok in the family, as he had been seen with the hammer last. The police officer investigating the case seemingly committed suicide by hanging himself in the same house.

Mano, along with his Inspector friend Shiva, meet Chitra's former fiancé, Ramachandran / Ram Charan, a High Court defense lawyer who tried to plead for Senthil / Ashok's innocence. Later, they meet Senthil / Ashok in an institute for the mentally disabled. After researching one night, Mano has a nightmare of a murderer climbing the stairs to kill his family. He goes to the hall and witnesses the climax of Yavarum Nalam / Sab Khairiyat when they are showing the murderer's identity: Mano's face is shown as the killer.

Not wanting to risk his family's life, he tells Balu / Shinde to book tickets and send his family members somewhere without telling him so that they would be safe. When Mano and Shiva go to Balu / Shinde's house, Mano requests to be locked up to prevent him from harming his family. It is at that point where he suddenly spots a hammer similar to the one he saw on his TV in the yard. He understands a horrifying truth and manages to convince Shiva to let him out.

Balu / Shinde arrives at Mano’s home and gives the flight tickets to Mano's wife. Suddenly, the television starts when he comes home, and he sees Chitra's spirit and starts hallucinating Chitra and her family in the form of Mano's family. He starts attacking all of the members in the house, and Mano arrives at the right time to save them. The murderer is revealed to be Balu / Shinde. He killed the family in 1977 after the death of Sairam, his brother, and also killed the police officer who had found evidence which could lead to him. Mano kills Balu / Shinde, and this is revealed to be what the TV showed earlier, and that Mano was innocent, and Balu was the real culprit.

The story ends with Manohar living a normal life with his family. They bring Senthil / Ashok home, and the apartment's lift finally works for Manohar, while Priya becomes pregnant again. When Mano uses the lift the next day, he receives a call from Balu / Shinde, saying that while the family had haunted the TV, he now haunts Manohar's phone. As the call ends, the elevator stops.

Cast

Production

Development

The director of the film, Vikram Kumar, won a National Award for his short film "Silent Scream". Here he teamed up with cinematographer P. C. Sreeram, editor Sreekar Prasad, sound designer A. S. Lakshminarayanan and art director Sameer Chanda, who also happen to be National Film Award winners. The Hindi working title was ''Channel''.

Casting

Esha Deol and Kareena Kapoor were originally considered for the lead role which eventually went to Neetu Chandra. Lead actress Neetu Chandra made her Tamil debut with ''Yaavarum Nalam''. She has starred in successful Hindi films like ''Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!'' and ''Traffic Signal''. Playback Singer Chinmayi dubbed for Neetu Chandra in this movie. Lead actor Madhavan and cinematographer P. C. Sreeram had previously worked together on the hit movie ''Alaipayuthey''. Veteran Bengali actor Dhritiman Chatterjee made his Tamil cinema debut in ''Yaavarum Nalam'', but Tamil was not a new language for him, as he is a resident of Chennai. He played the same role in the Hindi version of the film. Veteran Marathi actor Sachin Khedekar, who made his debut in Tamil cinema with ''Yaavarum Nalam'', took great effort in learning his lines. A voice CD was sent to him with his lines readout so that he would get familiar with the Tamil dialogue. He plays the same character in the Hindi version as well.

Filming

The majority of the film takes place inside an apartment. A temporary shooting floor was created from scratch in Egmore, Chennai, inside which an elaborate apartment set was erected.

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, while the lyrics in Hindi and Tamil were penned by Neelesh Mishra and Thamarai respectively.

Tamil

Hindi

Release

The satellite rights of the film's Tamil version were secured by Kalaignar. The film's Tamil version was given a "U/A" certificate by the Indian Censor Board, but the Hindi version got an "A" certificate from the Censor Board.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Times of India gave the movie a 3.5/5 rating and said, "Watch out for some zippy cinematography, a stylized monochrome tint, and some snazzy editing. Great timepass. Go for it."

Idlebrain.com gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and stated, "The first half of the film is a little boring. The way the story unfolds in the second half is good. But the flashback episode and the climax is not shot in a gripping manner. The plus points of the film are the story, cinematography, and Madhavan. The negative points are inconsistent screenplay and runtime. Though it has an interesting plot point, 13B fails due to lack of gripping narration." Rajeev Masand rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote, "13B is the kind of convenient thriller where you do get a twist ending, but the kind in which anything goes. The logic behind the twist and the back-story to the supernatural premise is so convoluted, it's hardly clever."

Hindustan Times gave the movie 2 out of 5 stars and stated, "If you like horror films, this one's par for the course, especially in the first half, where Vikram K Kumar uses the TV set for an interesting premise, the actors do their bit and the camera picks up suitably weird angles." Rediff.com rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and said, "One simply wishes it didn't have to be such hard work getting to the point, for the filmmakers as well as the audience."

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 1.5 out of 5 stars and said that "On the whole, 13B is interesting in parts, not in entirety."

Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express said, "Forget the irritating item numbers. Stay with the film, and you will come to a smart little end, and leave half-smiling, half-wondering: is this what the future holds?" Film Journal International wrote in their review, "J-horror-styled supernatural thriller from India doesn't have the gore or intensity of the real thing, and for many in the mainstream, that's a relief. Low-budget-looking but effective, with a great central gimmick."

Box office

The Tamil version was a hit, grossing around 13 crore. ''Yavarum Nalam'' grossed 2.34 crore in Chennai. The Hindi version grossed only 10 crore and was a commercial failure, according to Box Office India.

Home media

The Tamil version was released on Blu-ray by Moser Baer on 22 October 2010.

See also

*List of ghost films

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=1430836

BehindWoods.com: "Maddy Vikram combo to be a thrill ride"
by Behindwoods News Bureau, 18 December 2007

2009 films
Indian ghost films
Indian horror thriller films
2009 horror films
Films set in Chennai
Indian multilingual films
Films scored by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
Films directed by Vikram Kumar
Films set in apartment buildings
2000s Hindi-language films
2000s Tamil-language films
2000s Indian films
2000s horror thriller films
Tamil-language psychological thriller films
2009 psychological thriller films
Indian psychological horror films
2009 multilingual films
2000s psychological horror films
Indian horror films