R. Madhavan in 13B

Why do we see so little of you in Hindi cinema these days?

You didn’t see me in Mumbai Meri Jaan? As a solo lead, yes, I haven’t done a lot of Hindi films recently. I was busy doing films in the south.

What made you go for 13B?

I met the director Vikram nine-10 years ago... He wanted me to do a movie with him in Tamil. And after meeting him I realised that he was a super intelligent director. He had been Priyadarshan’s assistant. He was a gold medallist. But he was being sucked in the rut of making all these commercial Tamil movies. So I told him that I am not going to do such films with you... if you can come up with something which exploits your intelligence and mine, I will do a film. Thereafter we tried doing a movie for three-four years but it never happened.

Finally three years ago, he came to me with a subject which blew my mind. Sitting in Vizag, he told me the idea of 13B. It was in a very raw stage at that time. But it was phenomenal. I told him you better tell me the second half and it better be as good or else I will kill you (laughs).

Why did it take three years then?

Well, Vikram had already spoken to a Telugu producer and taken a signing amount before he met me. So I went and met that producer and bought over the rights. I told Vikram to finish the story... it was my responsibility now. Then I was in Mumbai some time later and I met Manmohan Shetty. He was very keen that I do more Hindi movies... he told me, a lot of our audiences connect with you here and one movie a year is not good enough. I told him that very few people are doing interesting movies and that I have an interesting story. He said, you don’t have to look for a producer, you tell me... He liked the idea and gave us three times the budget we were expecting. He asked us to take the best technicians. We got P.C. Sriram to do the camera, we got Samir Chanda to do the production design, A.R. Rahman was on board... He couldn’t do it eventually but Shankar Ehsaan Loy stepped in and did a great job. The movie eventually got made in two months.

What was it about the story of 13B that made you own the movie?

This sort of a story has never ever come on screen in any industry. At least it is the most unique story I have ever heard. Although it is spooky, there are no ghostly figures, no graphic images, no blood and gore... There’s nothing coming out of the closet or appearing in the bathroom... Yet it is spine-chillingly frightening.

Can you share a bit of the story with us?

In today’s world of hectic-paced lifestyle, the only source of relief or knowledge or entertainment is the TV. It has become an integral part of everyone’s lifestyle. Housewives keep it on at home even if they are not watching it. Even grandmas do it. So that they don’t feel alone all the time. People have started showing off their TVs, putting tika and all. It’s also moved up the ladder and kind of defines the power equations in the family. The one with the remote control is the boss of the house. Now, what happens if the TV realises this power? So instead of showing you what you want to see, it starts showing you what it wants you to see. And what happens when the TV slowly starts taking over your family. It’s such a powerful instrument... in one state, one political party was offering free TV while the other political party was offering free food. The TV party won!

So you are virtually finishing off the TV industry with this one film by scaring away small screen audiences?

Well I am actually saying that Maddy makes different films. It’s a supernatural thriller more than anything else.

What about you? Do you get spooked very easily?

I don’t get spooked very often. But I do believe in the supreme energy which is the lord. And for any energy to survive you have to have an equally powerful opposite energy. Magnetism, electricity, good lord... if one energy is there, there must be the other one.

Is it difficult to act in a horror film because the events are not actually happening for reference?

The idea was to convey the spine-chilling factor through me to the audience. I had to act in such a way that the fear gets to them. That was challenging.

You have scenes with Dhritiman Chatterjee in the film. How was he to work with?

Phenomenal! Not just him, Neetu Chandra, Poonam Dhillon, everyone was terrific!