Thriller gone wrong

Did you know that a horror flick if watched without the background score wouldn’t be that scare after all? Well, we didn’t really think about it till a character in the film told us about it.Rakesh (Sreedhar Rao), Pooja (Lakshmi Manchu) are a working couple with two kids – Bunny (Prem Babu), the elder one constantly becomes a cause for irritation to his dad thanks to his tendency to fall into trouble.

This has negative effects on him and ‘Budugu’ tells you the story.In the first look, one wonders if the film is a horror flick but as it progresses, you realise that what is seemingly scary from the outside isn’t really the truth and there is something else happening. Instead, you are thrown into a different world of a psychological thriller.

The film ventures into the very interesting area of child psychology. That their surroundings and the love they receive can affect them is known. But how adverse it could be, this movie tells you the scary facts. While the background score is passable, there’s the ‘Lalinche Amme’ track which is definitely a beautiful ode to a parent-son relationship. It gets a thumbs up from us.

With good production values, director Manmohan has the best of everything except vision. Even though he has with him a story that has an interesting premise, he fails to execute it. In process of exploration, he mangles the story and makes it a bore. In fact, moments that want to scare make you laugh! Added to that is the slow pace.To be fair, while the first half is a complete turn off, the second half at least manages to generate a wee bit of interest.

Lakshmi’s act as the doting mother who is worried about her son is good. Sridhar Rao as the father who is irritated by his son is passable. Prem Babu has a tendency to overact but being a kid, he has ample scope to improve. Dolly who plays the mute sister of Bunny is very cute.‘Budugu’ is an average fare. Well-intentioned but badly executed. A stronger script and better editing would have done wonders!

Movie Name : Budugu

Cast : Lakshmi Manchu, Sridhar Rao, Prem Babu, Dolly

Direction : Manmohan

Genre : Psychological Thriller

Likes : Idea, production values

Dislikes : Direction