Choo Mantar movie review: Sharan’s tryst with the paranormal fails to thrill or chill

2/5

Choo Mantar movie story: Gautham (Sharan) an expert in all things paranormal, and his associates Akanksha (Aditi Prabhudeva), RJ (Chikkanna) and Nakul (Kiran Chandrashekhar), are drawn to explore the mysteries of Morgan House, a haunted mansion in far-off Nainital, where a treasure is apparently hidden. The lore of Morgan House is such that most people dread to tread there and those who do are never seen again. Is the mansion really haunted and as dangerous as it is made out to be? And is there a treasure to be sought?

Choo Mantar movie review: There was a certain sense of expectation from Choo Mantar – director Navneeth had shown that he has a flair for the horror genre with Karvva and leading man Sharan has been looking at diversifying his portfolio, without entirely giving up on his strength, comedy. The hope was that these two would team up for a decently entertaining horror comedy with enough scares and some laughs too. Alas, that was not to be!

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To be fair, Navneeth does set up a fairly engaging first half, but it’s the second where he falters, with the ending a massive cop out – all because he thinks the story warrants a sequel. Sigh! Navneeth ties up some threads of the basic plot, but leaves out the major ones in the hope of expanding this ‘universe’, which, I believe, is the film’s biggest failing.

The set up for the interval block is for someone to come along and put an end to the haunting of Morgan House – that someone being Gautham (Sharan). That’s the pay-off audiences expect and not the card that is dealt, which, honestly, is quite ineffective and disappointing. This despite the fact that Navneeth uses most of the tricks of the horror genre trade, including the house with a violent history, jump scares, flickering lights, randomly moving furniture and other items, a creepy kid, levitation, and more.

Saddled with having to also cater to Sharan’s core audience, there is comedy force-fitted into the narrative, much of which is left to Chikkanna. It’s not really situational, but more of a set-up and punchline format, none of which feels novel, unless, of course, you don’t mind laughing when someone says “Shaa…” and you’ve framed the word in your head, only to have the character say something else.

If Navneeth had at least compensated with frights that make the heart skip a beat, or at least have you chuckle nervously, he could have been forgiven, but in following text book horror movie tropes, he presents predictable set-ups that you see coming from a mile away. Avinash Basutkar’s background score fights valiantly to give the scenes the desired effect, but it’s an uphill battle, where he is eventually let down by the narrative playing out onscreen.

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Choo Mantar does not challenge Sharan as an actor – his portrayal is as straight-laced as can be – and that’s a criminal waste of an opportunity, given that he’s been open to stepping outside his comfort zone. Prabhu Mundkur is given precious little to work with, but does justice to what’s expected of him, including rocking a pink night suit. The scares are left to the women – Meghana Gaonkar and Aditi Prabhudeva – with the former doing a great job at it. Sadly, though, their best efforts don’t translate well.

Choo Mantar movie verdict: Horror movies, whether mixed with other genres or not, have a certain audience, for whom Choo Mantar will be nothing more than a seen-it-all moment. For a Sharan fan, though, there maybe a sense of novelty, as it is hitherto unexplored territory. But in the overall scheme of things, Choo Mantar feels like a lost opportunity.