‘Padamoodu’, the new film which released this weekend, falls somewhere between being a horror and a ridiculously funny film. The film was earlier made in Tamil as ‘Yavarum Nalam’ and ‘13B’ in Hindi. There is an unwritten rule which you should remember while watching horror films; Never ask why! Once you apply logic, everything falls apart and rather than spooking you, the film ends up being a comedy of errors. Directed by Vikram K.Kumar, ‘Padamoodu’ stars Madhavan, Neetu Chandra, Flat 13 B and a TV set in lead roles! It’s the story about a family who are haunted by ghosts when they move into a new house.

What is it about : Madhavan stars as Manohar who moves in to a new flat (13, B) along with his huge family. His wife Priya (Neetu Chandra) is an ideal daughter-in-law, she doesn’t throw tantrums, loves her mother-in-law and even watches TV serials along with her. However, Manohar becomes increasingly suspicious of ominous sings in the new flat. One day, a new serial is aired on TV, again on channel number 13. To Manohar’s shock, all the incidents portrayed in the serial are exactly similar to their own lives. Even more surprising is that this serial governs the fate of the entire family. So, what’s this mystery behind the TV Serial? Is it a way of communicating with spirits and ghosts? How does Manohar manage to solve the problems? That forms the rest of the story.

What is Good: Madhavan is at his best enacting Manohar’s role. He does genuinely make you belief that his own life might be at stake. Some of the best moments in the film focus on Madhavan as he runs around holding his breath. Sachin Khedekar is good in his role. Neetu Chandra is alright, although she lets Madhavan hog all the limelight. The other actors manage to justify their roles. However, the movie completely belongs to P.C.Sreeram. His cinematography is pure magic and absolutely stunning. The grey shade and dull lighting, the camera placed at weird angles and also a documentary film making style in few scenes are the hallmark of any horror film. Even the sound mixing is pretty well done. Editing by Sreekar Prasad is good. Direction by Vikram is good in parts and he does a good job in spooking the audience quite often.

What is bad: Vikram K.Kumar, who wrote the story of the film, narrates the initial ominous details with style. The moment he introduces the TV Serial into the helm of affairs, the horror element takes a back seat. At one point, Manohar becomes so engrossed in the serial that he decides whether to save his wife or not only after watching the episode! Logic also plays a crucial role and once the viewers apply their mind, the script seems to be full of loop holes and artistic liberties. The film is a bit too lengthy for its genre. The song between the lead pair, although amazingly shot, could have been avoided.

Bottomline: Vikram chooses the right locales to narrate his story and the initial scenes involving the life, cellphone and drilling holes in the pooja room are scary. From then on the film drags on just like the TV Serial, which takes its own sweet time narrating the incidents one after the other. There’s neither too much of blood shed nor is it an adaptation of Bhoot, Exorcist, which is a welcome sign. In the end, the film falls short of being a good horror film. It does scare you a bit, but maybe just not scary enough. Our TV Serials have already scared the viewers with their terribly boring and pointless content! Watch it at your own risk.