13B entering "International Panorama" in Shanghai

nated 13B in their "International Panorama" category. The SIFF will be held between June 13 to 21, this year. The movie, 13B, is a thriller revolving around a close knit family of 8: Manohar (Madhavan), his mother (Poonam Dhillon), his wife Priya (Neetu Chandra), his elder brother (Sanjay Bokaria), sister-in-law (Ameetha), his nephew, niece and younger sister, who move into a new apartment on the 13th floor. The story is filled with suspense and Madhavan plays a brilliant main protagonist uncovering "13B".


The script has already created a buzz around. Earlier this year, the Weinstein Company, one of the largest film production houses and distributors in the world, which has produced films like Rambo 4, The Nutty Professor, The Reader and Outlander, have purchased the script from Vikram V. Kumar, the writer and director of the movie which he made in both Tamil (called Yaavarum Nalam) and Hindi. This movie is also slated to be made in Telugu by Allari Ravi Babu, who has bought the rights to make it in the language.


Seems like Madhavan has been given a free ride over the moon... or at least around Asia, since, the SIFF is one of the biggest film festivals in the continent, pulling about 300,000 spectators from all around, some of the best in the business are set to be there. To top it all, this year the jury is being headed by the Oscar winner "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle. No wonder there is so much excitement in the air. According to sources, Madhavan, along with director Vikram, will be attending the festival and are very excited to see how the film does with the "very diverse audience". Madhavan is "very sure that many of them will like it as the film will find a resonance within them!"


Although, the official Indian entry for the Asian New Talent category is Neeraj Pandey's A Wednesday. But all we hope is India goes great guns with every entry it takes into world (read Asian) cinema.


Can 13B succeed to pull the Asian audience?