Story
After a very long time, a fresh breeze of air has flown into the conventional mass masala Tollywood entertainers but not without a spine chilling experience. 'Mantra' is truly a good product. The story is about 'Mantra' (Charmi) is the owner of an ancestral house 'Mantra Nilayam' and unfortunately for her she loses her parents long ago so it is upto her to take care of the property which is on the outskirts. She wants to let it out for sale but then whoever takes the house for rent earlier dies under mysterious circumstances which results in no one coming forward to buy it. Finally comes one man who wishes to take it but then he puts in a clause that if someone can stay there for about 3 months and be alive he will take it. Mantra takes the onus and moves in with her friend but in no time vacates as her friend claims to see an evil spirit. In comes the hero (Shivaji) , a local goon specializing in land disputes and settlements and he accepts the condition to stay there for 3 months provided he gets some money on the sale. Mantra agrees and he moves in with his group but yet again his friend gets killed unknowingly. What follows is one hell of a horror episode that makes you sweat.

Presentation
Director Thulasi Ram seems to have hit the nail on the head with some remarkable direction and presentation but full credit must be given to the amazing cinematography backed by some marvelous music and sound effects. Even the technical teams have done a decent job with quality editing and fine production work. Coming to the cast, Charmi has turned out to be a show stealer yet again with some real performance and especially during the fear scenes the expressions on her face were absolutely perfect. Even the other casts like Jeeva, Shivaji have carried out their roles with ease and gave the right punch.

Conclusion:
The catch for any horror flick is the suspense behind the story and it will touch a sensitive point when it comes to the climax so that the audience can put two and two together. 'Mantra' has managed to stitch the story very well and has got the audience receiving jolts at some points. While the big question of truth still remains whether ghosts or evil spirits exist or not , it is always left to the viewer's judgement to decide upon that.

Bharatstudent verdict : Strongly recommended for those who like unusual stuff, no weak hearts please...