Supernatural thrillers are a rarity on the Tamil screen. So when one comes along, and that too a well packaged one, it’s a welcome relief from the routine pot boilers. 'Yaavarum Nalam' is one such thriller which avoids the normal clichés- like scary night-shots and ghosts popping out and jolting the senses. With well maintained suspense and an undercurrent of fear, the film grips audience attention for almost it’s entire length.
The plot centers on the strange happenings in an apartment ,ominously numbered 13B, after a family of eight moves in. The women soon get hooked on to a serial titled 'Yaavarum Nalam'. The incidents in the serial are uncannily similar to what follows in their real life. Mano (Madhavan) the younger son cottons on to it. But why the rest of the family remain dense to the fact is an unexplained mystery! And when the serial’s plot takes a dangerous turn, Mano fearful that it would be duplicated in their real life too, sets to find out who or what is behind it all. A bilingual in Tamil and Hindi (13B), it has an ensemble cast of talented actors from various languages. Looking dapper, and with varied nuances of expression, Madhavan delivers an impressive performance of a man in a mental turmoil, fearing for the safety of his family, and desperately trying to piece out the puzzle before it is too late. It may not be a dream debut for Neetu Chandra (Traffic Signal’, Oye Lucky,Lucky Oye), but the actress as Mano’s wife, makes her presence felt with her spontaneous acting. Cute are the scenes of intimacy between the couple. Dhritiman Chatterjee as Mano’s blind neighbour with a dog, and Sachin Khedekar as the psychiatrist lend conviction to their roles. The psychiatrist’s theory about anguished spirits reaching out to humans, is an echo of ‘psychiatrist’ Bruce Willis’ explanation to the little boy in Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense. A major contributory factor to the film’s mood is its brilliant cinematography (PC Sreeram) which creates the eerie feel, without being too gimmicky. And the mood enhanced by the music (Shankar Ehsaan Loy). Frequent shots of the elevator going up and down with a creaky sound is a tad overdone though. The script could have been a bit tighter too. Cleverly crafted and impressively narrated (the director’s return to Tamil screen after Alai), the film despite it’s flaws is an engrossing entertainer, and worth a watch.
Film- Yaavarum Nalam
Director- Vikram K. Kumar
Cast- Madhavan, Neetu Chandra, Saranya, Sachin Khedekar, Dhritiman Chatterjee, Ravi Babu, Hari Nair,Ameeta.
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