13, the upcoming Tamil film led by musician GV Prakash and Gautham Menon, is an investigative crime thriller with an “element of horror,” according to the film’s writer-director K Vivek.
The first-look poster of 13 was released recently via social media.
Speaking to Silverscreen India about the film which marks his directorial debut, Vivek says, “There will be no cringe-worthy, clichéd scenes, nor any jump scares. The film will have the underlying mood of a thriller. GV Prakash sir plays a YouTuber in 13 and GVM sir essays a detective. The latter is an interesting character which cannot be easily classified as positive or negative. It will take time to judge his character graph. There are not many scenes featuring both of them together; their roles are on opposing ends.”
13 marks the second collaboration of Menon and Prakash after Selfie, which released in April. Vivek tells us that he had spoken to both of them, independently, before the release of Selfie and adds that they were both unaware of being cast in the same film. “I wanted the YouTuber to be played by somebody who was enthusiastic and energetic, hence we opted for GV Prakash. On the other hand, we felt that Menon sir perfectly fit the role of a mighty detective, especially in terms of the character’s ability to modulate their voice.”
Aside from Prakash and Menon, 13 also features Bhavya Trikha, Aadhya Prasad, and Aishwarya as the female leads, while Adithya Kathir essays a comic role.
The film is produced by S Nandagopal of Madras Studios in association with Anshu Prabhakar Films. “Initially, we had decided to make another film for the same producer, but since that project was taking longer than anticipated, we proceeded to make this film instead,” says the director.
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Siddhu Kumar, who has earlier worked as a composer for the GV Prakash-starrers Sivappu Manjal Pachai and Bachelor, has scored the music for 13. Vivek tells us that the album features four songs.
The film, which went on floors earlier this year, is currently in post-production. It was shot in Chennai and Talakona Falls with CM Moovendhar handling the cinematography. JF Castro is the film’s editor.
The makers of 13 are aiming for a theatrical release in July.
“13 is considered to be a lucky and auspicious number in the cinema industry. Also, the film’s second half has a negative mood to it. Hence, we titled the film 13. The producers previously backed the film 96 and it worked well for them,” says Vivek, who is set to work on another project with Madras Studios after this one.