Manthrikan

A few years back there was a formula that did well in the box office. A mix of ghosts and fraud plays mixed with genuine comedy attracted almost all kinds of audience to the cinema halls. But the repeated versions made the audience to skip this kind of cinema. After watching Manthrikan you will also feel that the makers are still stuck in that age. Made on a familiar platform, this horror-comedy is a tiring watch.

The movie revolves around the central character Mukundanunni. Mukundanunni is doing various farming businesses in Karnataka but he hasn’t tasted success yet. One day a girl comes in to his life during the course of road accident. The girl had totally lost her memory. She begins a new life and ends up in having a relationship with the central protagonist. But later after another accident the girl gets back her memory and goes away. The hero who is in a financial crisis decides to go for the ancestral ghost buster job to make some money. There he meets the girl again and tries to convince her about the past. Meanwhile the ghost plays its trick on Chandana (the girl) as well. How Mukundanunni helps his lady love get out of this mess is all about the movie.

Well, the plot is quite familiar. It’s almost like a mix of ‘Pakalpooram’ and ‘Pattabhishekam’. Main drawback of the movie is its script that never goes smoothly. It is totally bizarre and the makers have miserably failed in conveying the romance between the protagonists. The horror scenes never really created any sense of horror in the audience and the cliché horror numbers also makes the movie a predictable boring watch. The only thing that makes the movie a little bit engaging is the performance of Pisharadi and Suraaj.

In the making, Anil hasn’t tried anything new to make any impact. The style is quite outdated and predictable. The script flaws at many occasions with vague and awkward speeding and cliché scenes. Comedy part was enjoyable. Music is below average. Cinematography was impressive for the first half an hour and then it declined. VFX was average.

Performance wise Jayaram portrayed the stereo type character easily. Poonam Bajwa was disappointing. Mukhtha was impressive as the Ghost. Pisharadi and Suraaj Venjaaramoodu gives the audience something to cheer about the movie. Rest of the cast also was good.

Overall Manthrikan is a boring experience with nothing to claim as fresh. Acknowledging the performances of Pisharadi and Suraaj I am giving 2/5 for this Anil movie. Watch forget and forgive yourself.