13b - Storyline

Manohar, an upwardly mobile middle class Indian, moves into a new apartment - 13B on the 13th floor with his family fulfilling one of his life's biggest dreams. But the family is greeted by a series of small trivial incidents such as milk getting spoiled that could be regarded as inauspicious but are shrugged off by the excited Manohar. The lift in the apartment does not operate for Manohar.
The women in the family get hooked on to a new TV show "Sab Khairiyat" (All's Well). The show is about a family eerily similar to theirs who have also just moved into a new house just like they have. As the serial unfolds, Manohar notices that the incidents that happen in the serial are a reflection of what has happened to Manohar and his family. The serial mirrors Manohar's family life. For example, his sister graduating first-class, his wife getting pregnant and later an abortion. The rest of the family remains oblivious to the similarities and Manohar prefers it that way to avoid panic.
As Manohar fights the uneasy feeling in his mind, things start taking a turn for the worse in the serial. He is now terrified that the same would happen to his family as well. Manohar now wants to know who is behind the making of this serial and what their intentions are. As Manohar explores the mysterious happenings, he unravels a deep and unholy secret.
The house they live in was the house where the whole family of eight were murdered way back in 1977. It was the family of a TV News reader Chitra. On the day of Chitra's engagement an ardent fan(Shriram Shinde in 13B version) of Chitra wants to stop the engagement and he fails in doing so. Disheartened, he commits suicide. After that all members in that family was murdered with a hammer in a single day. The blame rests on the crazy brother in the family as he is seen with the hammer last. The police officer investigating the case also commits suicide by hanging himself in the same house.
Now Manohar and his friend who is a policeman are in the process of unraveling the mystery. Manohar researches the madman Senthil, who apparently goes crazy after seeing the TV show in an asylum. Manohar then meets Senthil who extends a hand for Manohar but drags him inside but his friend Shiva helps him from being dragged, they then met Chitra's former fiance Ramchandar who tries to plead for Senthil's innocence because he got covered in blood while he hugged the bodies, failed in the case.
After researching one night Manohar had a nightmare of the 13B murderer climbing the stairs to kill his family. When Manohar tried to climb the stairs, he always ended up in the 2nd floor and after a few moments he woke up. He then goes to the hall and witnesses the Climax of "Yavarum Nalam" when they were showing the murderer's identity, he sees two hammers, one pointed hammer and a blunt sledge-hammer, then showing Manohar's face as the killer.
Manohar has a fit of insanity and turns to Shiva and Dr. Balu for help. He asks Dr.Balu to send his family to New Delhi. When Dr. Balu leaves the house, Manohar tells Shiva to lock him inside a room. He reckoned that if he is outside he might cause harm to his family without knowing he is doing so. Shiva locks Manohar up, and Manohar sees a sledgehammer outside the house. Manohar remembers that they showed two different hammers and the murder weapon was a pointed hammer. He tells Shiva about his suspicion but Shiva refuses to open the door. Manohar then climbs over Dr.Balu's shelf but falls down, finding a newspaper that had an obituary of Shriram which was posted by Dr.Balu and realises that Shriram is Dr.Balu's brother. Manohar realized that Dr.Balu was the murderer who killed Chitra's family as to avenge his brother's death. He then goes to save his family. Dr.Balu had reached Manohar's house and handed them tickets. As Manohar's wife goes to inform the family, Dr.Balu takes a hammer from the bathroom and goes to the hall, he then 'sees' Chitra, who blames Dr.Balu for the murders of her family and condemns him for killing innocent people. Dr.Balu sees Manohar's family and starts hallucinating, picturing them as the former owners of 13B. He then proceeds to strike Manohar's brother but Manohar arrives just in time to save his family by killing Dr. Balu with the hammer.
The story ends with Manohar living a normal life and receiving a call from Dr. Balu while in the elevator, who says that while the 13B family haunts the T.V., he haunts Manohar's phone.