Mantra

Mantra is a horror movie. Reincarnation or a soul haunting a bungalow/palace as a ghost, or snakes taking the shape of human beings: such themes have become passé in the movie industry. The mobile phone wielding generation will not accept ghosts in white saris, or for that matter in any sari. If at all they accept it will be more as comic relief and less as a hair rising horror. Chandramukhi and Makdi, two big horror films in the recent past were based on flawed psychology and con game ideas respectively. Ghosts were alibis, while the real reason were something else.
So what Mantra is based on?
Mantra (Charmme) is an orphaned girl living with her sister. Her father had borrowed some money before his death and to repay the debt she needs to sell a farmhouse that she owns and is named Mantra Nilayam (the spooky house where all the action takes place). The problem is the house has earned a reputation being a haunted house. For whoever has tried to stay in that house has been either killed or thrown out of the house mysteriously. So there are no buyers coming forward to buy the haunted farmhouse. There is one professor though; who wants to buy the farmhouse provided that Mantra manages to make somebody stay in it for three months. Forget about renting out the farmhouse, Mantra tries to do that by paying money. But people can hardly stay for a night.
Hero (Shivaji) is a rowdy and works in a gang to settle property disputes. A person to whom Charmme's father owed a large sum of money hires Hero to collect the due from Charmme. So Hero arrives at Charmme's place and plunks himself there with booze and chicken. He is willing to leave only with the due amount. There he learns about Charmme's problem with disposing off the haunted house she owns. He proposes to stay in the haunted house in return for a commission. Charmee agrees to that.
Off goes Hero with three of his friends to Mantra Nilayam. But Hero finds soon that the house is indeed spooky. There is something wrong. One of his friends dies mysteriously in the second night. Others leave in fear after that. Hero stays to confront...
Mantra is a horrifying movie. It is heavily engrossing too. The crowd tries relentlessly to remove the elements of horror by shouting and hooting at the key moments. But still the director manages to terrify with appropriate sound, lighting, and timing. People with weak hearts and heart problems are cautioned: this movie is not for you.
So what's haunting Mantra Nilayam? Is it a deranged woman, an extra terrestrial, or really some ghost?