Film: Manne Number 13
Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime Video
Language: Kannada
Release Date: November 26, 2020
Directed by: Vivy Kathiresan
Produced by: Krishna Chaitanya
Written by: Vivy Kathiresan
Starring: Varsha Bollamma, Aishwarya Gowda, Praveen Prem, Chethan Gandarva
Music by: A M Sah
Cinematography: Sandeep Sadashiv
Edited by: Castro
Production Company: Sri Swarnalatha Productions
Manne Number 13 is the new Kannada movie that landed on Amazon Prime Video among many movies that skipped the theatrical release. Touted to be a horror-thriller film, Vivy Kathiresan wrote and directed the movie. The film features Varsha Bollamma, Aishwarya Gowda, and Praveen Prem in lead roles.
Plot:
Due to issues with the house owner, five friends Nishok, Nancy, Aswanth, Karthick, and Preethi (Ramana, Varsha Bollamma, Sanjeev, Praveen, and Aishwarya Gowda) vacate the house and reaches a haunted house. The rest of the film’s plot revolves around the five friends experiencing paranormal activities in the house.
Actors & Performances:
Ramana, Sanjeev, Praveen, Varsha Bollamma, and Aishwarya Gowda played the five friends. The film also features Chetan Gandharwa. The film’s writing has many flaws and offers no scope for the actors to perform. However, these six actors played their parts well. In very few good scenes, the actors proved their capabilities as actors. Especially, Ramana’s performance is the best compared to all. Varsha Bollamma, who recently scored a hit with ‘Middle-Class Melodies,’ unfortunately has nothing big to perform in Nancy’s role. She repeats expressions and hardly creates a positive impression. Overall, the actors did their best to lift the film from falling, and they deserve a big appreciation.
Analysis:
Manne Number 13 looks amateurish in terms of writing as well as making. The film never really appeals to the audience. Horror filmmakers usually follow a format and everyone who comes to watch the movie is aware of the happenings. But, the magic lies in executing the movies. The audiences feel happy if they get thrilled and experience some scary moments. The film has very few interesting episodes, and the pre-interval sequence is one of them. The twist that comes in the end disappoints big time.
The film begins on a predictable note, and the director introduces the characters one by one. The director takes us into the film at a slow pace. He spent a lot of time establishing the haunted house. The routineness in the screenplay is a big disadvantage for the movie. Similar kinds of movies were made in other South languages and have become big hits too. Still, the director attempted to do a film with a proven formula, and the result is obviously not that he expected.
For films like these, the technicalities must be strong. Sometimes, a strong technical team can also drive the film to success. However, it is not the case with the film. The music, camera work, editing, and other aspects are just average.
There is nothing new in the film, and it disappoints the audiences, especially the horror-film lovers. The director must have believed that the twists in the plot would turn a big advantage for the film, but they could not save the film. The only plus point of the film is the less runtime. On the whole, Manne Number 13 tests the patience with an outdated story and execution.
