Mantr

Story: Niranjan, the son of a preacher, is in a confused state of mind. On one side, he preaches religion while on the other, he struggles to find reasons behind doing so.


Review: It is pretty clear from the name as to what one can expect from the film. Mantr speaks about religion and god and goes on to explain how despite some people having twisted the concept for their personal benefit doesn’t mean every preacher or follower of religion is bad. This, it does through the story of Niranjan (Gogate), Antara (Devi) and Shridhar Pant (Joshi).


Niranjan is the younger kid of Shridhar, a preacher, but is not interested in taking up what his father does for a living. However, when an opportunity to visit Germany for a year as a preacher comes his way, the young lad decides to learn all the mantras and traditional practices from his father. During the course of this journey, Niranjan meets Antara and falls in love with her. But Antara is an atheist and has a big aversion to godmen and people who preach religion. So Niranjan hides his work from her. But Antara’s questioning of religion also makes him do the same especially when she narrates a shocking incident about her family’s tryst with a fake godman.


Mantr’s heart is in the right place but the focus and progress of the narrative isn’t. The film jumps from one thing to another in the hope of encapsulating all questions associated with people’s perception of religion and its use for political gains. In doing that, it goes haywire. Besides a few good scenes, it is only the climax that stands out in the film. Some performances, though not outstanding, are noteworthy.


As the calm-headed preacher, Manoj Joshi brings authenticity to the role of Shridhar Pant. Debutant Saurabh Gogate has potential and is sincere in his portrayal of Niranjan. Deepti Devi as Antara goes overboard at times but is fairly alright too.

Mantr might not change your perspective but you can risk watching it. Don’t go in with great expectations though.