Mantra review

Story - screenplay - direction: Story deserves a special mention in this film. Story of the film is compact and the storyline is unpredictable laced with suspense. However these kind of stories are good for 1 and half hour films. Hence the narration becomes too slow. The initial part of the film is not interesting. But the story takes interesting twists and turns once Sivaji starts living in Mantra Nilayam. Screenplay of the film is nice. The director should be commended for sticking to his own plot in stead of trying to be commercial for the sake of masses. It is a decent effort by the debutant director Tulasi Ram.

Other departments: Background music by Anand is excellent. Cinematography, Color grading and sounds play vital role in any horror films. And all these three departments are good in this film. Since it is a horror film, the director preferred to shoot the most of the film is dark rooms and during the night. Dialogues are adequate. Choreography for Maha song (an unabashed lift of My Hump (Black Eyed Peas)) by Prem Rakshit is good. Editing is ok.

Analysis: If the motive of any horror film is to scare you, this film succeeds to that aspect. And the basic premise of any thriller is to maintain suspense till the end of the film. This film succeeds in suspense aspect too. But the narration of the film is too long. There are many unnecessary shots in the film which are just inserted for creating horror. Certain logics are missing. If you like horror flicks, it's a must watch.