12B

One morning, Shakthivel a.k.a. Shakthi leaves his house for a job interview when he sees a woman, Jyothika a.k.a. Jo, walking down the street. Shakthi is distracted by Jo and begins to follow her. He misses his bus and gets mugged. The film then pauses as a voice-over tells the audience they are about to examine the impact of missing the bus on Shakthi's life.

Shakthi who catches the bus arrives on time for the job interview and is offered the job of a bank manager, and a beautiful young colleague Priya falls in love with him. Shakthi, however, is still in love with Jho but something repeatedly prevents him from meeting her. The obstacle turns out to be his alternate self (the mechanic). Shakthi the bank manager is well-off in life but is miserable because he cannot win the affections of Jo.

The Shakthi who missed the bus arrives late at the interview and is thrown out. On his way home, he passes by a junkyard, where he meets his friend Madhan, who gives him a job as a mechanic. The next day, while crossing the street, he sees Jo and again follows her. He gains her attention and they begin a relationship. One day, Jo's uncle Aravind visits, and it is revealed he too is in love with Jo and wants to marry her, much to Jo's dismay.

Due to a misunderstanding, Jo and Shakthi the mechanic separate. Priya expresses her love for the Shakthi the bank manager who, while reciprocating his love for Priya, has an accident. At the same moment, Shakthi the mechanic is also seriously hurt in the same accident while he tries to repair his relationship with Jo. Both Shakthis are admitted to the hospital. While Priya is crying over the death of Shakthi the bank manager, she glimpses Shakthi the mechanic making up with Jo. The film ends with a voice-over concluding the film.

Parthiban provided the voice-over at the beginning of the film.^[3]

Development

12B marked the directorial debut of cinematographer Jeeva and is narrated in a dual narrative format, one if Shakthi (the protagonist) catches the 12B bus to his job interview and one if he misses the same bus.^[5][6] Jeeva said the film would be titled 12B after a bus he used to take during his college days in Chennai.^[4][7] The plot of the film was taken from the 1998 English film Sliding Doors by Peter Howitt, which follows alternate timelines on whether or not Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow) catches a train.^[4][8] The gender roles in Sliding Doors were reversed and the train was replaced by a bus in this film.^[9][8] Film producer Vikram Singh opted to make his first foray into Tamil film production after being encouraged to by director Priyadarshan.^[10]

Casting

Madhavan was initially considered for the lead role, but the actor was busy with other projects.^[10] Shaam had worked as a model in Bangalore for four years before model coordinator Biju Jayadevan introduced him to director Jeeva, who was auditioning a debutant actor for his debut venture, 12B.^[11] Shaam had unsuccessfully auditioned for the lead role in Kadhalar Dhinam (1999);^[11] he said during his first meeting with Jeeva, he handed over his portfolio and introduced himself in English. Jeeva said: "Repeat what you just said, in Tamil". Shaam did so and was signed on next day after a meeting with producer Vikram Singh.^[12][13] Since Shaam was looking for film offers for four years, Jeeva did not treat Shaam as a newcomer.^[14]

Simran and Jyothika, two of the leading Tamil female actors at the time, were cast in the other lead roles; Jyothika got more screen time.^[4] Simran called her role a "special appearance".^[15] Thota Tharani worked as the art director for the film.^[4] The promos of the film were critically praised; Shaam signed on to appear in several projects before 12B was released.^[6] The film also featured Jeeva's assistant director, Srinath, in a supporting role.^[16] After the first filming schedule, Srikanth tried to fill the lead role but Jeeva insisted on retaining Shaam.^[17][18] Parthiban provided a voiceover for the film.^[3]

A leading Hindi actor was revealed to play a cameo in the film.^[4] The actor was later revealed upon release to be Sunil Shetty, who was cast to play Jyothika's uncle.^[19] Bengali actor Moon Moon Sen, mother of Riya Sen, was signed on to play Jyothika's mother in the film.^[20] In 12B, Shaam's voice was dubbed; an uncommon practice for male actors in Tamil cinema at that time.^[21][22] Shiva, who later starred in Chennai 600028 (2007), made his acting debut with this film in a minor role.^[1] Chennai-based model Manish Borundia played a background actor in the film.^[2]

The soundtrack of 12B was composed by Harris Jayaraj.^[23] The soundtrack became popular particularly the song "Oru Punnagai Poove".^[3][24] Premgi Amaran crooned the rap song "Anandam".^[25]

12B received pre-release publicity because it brought together Simran and Jyothika, two of the Tamil film industry's leading actresses of the period.^[27][28][29] It performed modestly at the box office with average collections reported.^[30][11] Producer Vikram Singh revealed that he lost money producing the film although he felt it was worth it due to the film's unique script.^[31] Jeeva later stating he felt the film had not been properly promoted and could have done better business if it had been.^[32]

The appearance of Sunil Shetty in a prominent role led the filmmakers to dub the film in Hindi as Do Raaste 12B (transl. Two ways 12B) in 2005.^[20][33] A Telugu dubbed version was planned in October 2005,^[34] but was dropped although the songs were still released.^[35] The Hindi dubbed version was released in Germany in 2007 under the title Buslinie 12B – Was wäre wenn? (transl. Bus route 12B – What if?) with Shetty falsely promoted as the lead actor.^[8]

A critic from The Hindu said the film is like "moving through a maze, because for many it could be confusion confounded, at least for the most part of the first half". The critic added; "Shyam in the hero's garb is an apt choice and looks more like a Madhavan clone and for a newcomer, Shyam is absolutely at ease in dance and fights" and "Simran does a commendable job in the climax".^[3] New Straits Times wrote; "The presence of Jyotika, Simran and Shyam saves this movie from boredom".^[20] Rediff concluded its review; "full marks to the intention – considerably less for the execution", praised the film's performances and technical aspects and said a "drawback would be the languid pace—there is not enough tension built into the film and, for large chunks of time, the story remains static, with the result that you do not empathise with the characters". The reviewer said Simran's portrayal "continues with her policy of shifting gradually from glam roles to the more sedate, serious ones and proves to have what it takes".^[36]

Sify wrote; "Ultimately it is very difficult for the audience to understand this superficial tale, as they cannot follow the thin line between reality and imagination. It is total confusion". The reviewer praised the Jayaraj's music for the film.^[19] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online opined that "But Jeeva steers his script deftly, and offers a film that is different, giving enough food for thought and room for discussion even after the film is over" but questioned the change from a female protagonist in Sliding Doors to a male protagonist.^[9] Visual Dasan of Kalki criticised the film's story (which he felt was similar to Sliding Doors and the 1999 German film Run Lola Run), called both roles of Shaam confusing and felt bad for Simran taking up such a role. He praised Vivek's comedy, Harris Jayaraj songs and the director for trying to take up a unique subject for his debut film.^[37] Asokan Nirmalarajah of the German site mannbeistfilm.de reviewing the Hindi dubbed version in 2007 wrote that "Debutant director Jeeva [...] is at his best especially in the down-to-earth musical sequences and uses the fresh, youthful, lively, very romantic songs by Harris Jeyaraj to make the film very dynamic and entertaining. This only applies to a limited extent for the rest of the film" but felt that the "what if?" aspect was already explored in films such as Blind Chance (1987), Sliding Doors and Run Lola Run.^[8]

• 12B at IMDb