'Choo Mantar' movie review | This horror comedy is neither funny nor scary

Navaneeth’s ‘Choo Mantar’, aimed to be a horror comedy falls flat with its sudden shift in narrative post-interval. 

Mogan House, a fictitious mansion nestled in the hills of Nainital, Uttarakhand is the latest entry to the country’s ‘most haunted mansions’.

It is bought by an Indian businessman living in London. He soon becomes bankrupt and dies of declining health. His family moves to the mansion in Nainital unaware of what’s in store for them.

A paranormal expert Dynamo (Sharan), and his company, who find out about a hidden treasure in the same house, set out to find it. The film then follows their adventures with ghosts and exorcism. 

To be honest, apart from the opening scene, the film starts off well and even sets a decent plot twist for the interval.

However, the narrative in the second half goes haywire. The film desperately tries to be funny and scary but fails badly. 

Sharan is back with his usual antics — distasteful jokes that are aimed at catering to only a certain kind. Prabhu Mundkur is fantastic as Alex D’Costa. Both Aditi Prabhudeva and Meghana Gaonkar’s performances as possessed women are bearable. 

Exorcism by a Christian priest somehow fails to tackle the problem of the haunted house, making way for a Hindu god to come to everyone’s rescue.
While there is nothing wrong in showing Hindu exorcism winning, the narrative takes sides and ends up promoting a party’s slogans. Post ‘Kantara’, Kannada movies are desperately trying to imitate the ‘divine magic’ ‘Kantara’ pulled off in the climax. It’s high time filmmakers realise it has to be better than what audiences have already seen, for it to work.