Friday Mar 13 2009, Chennai

Horror Reinvented!

Genre - Horror

Directed by - Vikram K. Kumar

Produced by - BIG Pictures

Music by - Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Casts - Poonam Dhillon, Ravibabu,Sachin Khedekar, Deepak Dobriyal, Murli Sharma

Starring - Madhavan, Neetu Chandra

'Yavarum Nalam' lives up to its billing and is a taut horror thriller. The film makes for an engrossing watch despite director Vikram K Kumar shunning the use of traditional gimmicks such as creaking doors, travelling tables and flying cats to create the spooky effect.

Things take a turn for the worse when an upper middle class joint family, consisting of Manohar (Madhavan) and his wife Priya (Neetu Chandra), his elder brother and family, his mother (Saranya) and a sister, move into their new apartment on the 13th floor of a building.

Many things unbelievable take place in the apartment numbered 13 at exactly 13.00 hrs, but only Manohar is aware of it! He solicits the help of his friend Siva (Ravi), a police officer and his family doctor (Sachin Khedekar). Finally, they manage to unravel the truth and there lies the suspense.

Vikram Kumar, who has written the screenplay also, excels in narration and he succeeds in keeping the viewer glued to the seat. The way a television serial controls the day today life of a family is seen to be believed!

Madhavan delivers a virtuoso performance as the hero and carries the film on his shoulders. Newcomer Neetu Chandra and Saranya are impressive as the women whose lives are taken for a ride by a TV soap.

A horror film can work only if it has good technical support and 'Yavarum...' is very fortunate in that. P.C Sreeram’s cinematography is excellent and Sreekar Prasad’s editing is just perfect. Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s music goes a long way in maintaining the mood of the film.

The slighly dragging second half seems to be the only dampener in the film.