BOOMIKA (2021)
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| Critic No. 233 |
Director: R. Rathindran Prasad
Written by: R. Rathindran Prasad
Produced by: Stone Bench Productions
Casts: Aishwarya Rajesh, Avantika, Pavel Navageethan, Vidhu, Madhuri, Surya Ganapathy, Ayaan Abhishek
Language: Tamil
Genre: Horror
Music: Prithvi Chandrasekhar
SYNOPSIS:
Paranormal activity at a lush abandoned property alarms a group eager to redevelop the site, but the eerie events may not be as unearthly as they think.
REVIEW:
After a flying start in the Tamil anthology, Navarasa(2021) through the eerie short, Inmai, I was really looking forward to witnessing Rahtindran’s next which was marketed as an eco-horror. Banked by director Karthik Subburaj’s Stone Bench Productions and led by Aishwarya Rajesh in the performances front, the film had created a great hype due to the names associated. Has it managed to fulfill its promises?
Samyuktha's (Aishwarya Rajesh) husband Gautham (Vidhu) acquires a contract to build a township villa in an abandoned forest area. Gautham takes the help of his close friend Gayathri (Surya Ganapathy), an architect, to plan the construction. Gautham, Samyuktha, Gayathri, Aditi (Gautham's sister - Madhuri) visit the guest house in the forest area to plan the construction. However, paranormal activities kick in gradually which leaves them terrified and desperate to unlock the mysteries of the forest.
I really liked the concept of the film and how they have tied in the much-needed environmental angle to it and connect to mother nature through a backstory. I always believe that autistic kids’ minds are wonderfully imaginative and Rathindran uses that to depict the beauty of nature. Unlike a typical horror film, Boomika is a slow-burn mystery that takes its time to unveil the supernatural element without any cheap thrills and jump scares. Instead, Rathindran tries to infuse technology to express the genre conventions at times.
On the flipside, logic takes a backseat in Boomika from the first frame. Samyukta, a counseling psychologist, reprimands a mother of a child with a psychological disorder and says that “it’s you who needs counseling”, reminding us that it’s the neurotypicals who need to be educated about neurodiversity. And the next very scene, her ideologies are thrown into the bin for her own son when she laments the lack of grandparents as a possible cause for her child’s disability.
The foreshadowing about the environmental issue through the banters of the 4 lead characters, looks super forced. In fact, from the time they enter the house, the dialogues and acting seem very artificial. I felt that I was watching a student film. One reason for this is that the one-dimensional writing with a level-headed person (Aishwarya), a modern young woman (Surya), a scaredy-cat (Madhuri), a devious man (Vidhu), a suspicious-looking helper (Pavel). In particular, Madhuri’s constant overacting seriously detaches us from the film’s eerie mood that Rathindran in the first place staggers to achieve. On the extreme, Vidhu is always angry and Aishwarya is always calm even if there is a life-threatening issue going on. Despite the good location, camera work, and sound design, the horror conventions do not really impact us as intended due to the thin characters.
It is extremely unbelievable that the first assumptions of the characters easily solve the mysteries step by step without much sweat. As I mentioned earlier, the director struggles to keep the intensity intact with logic loopholes and bad acting coming on his way constantly. When the backstory kicks in, it is a relief that we finally see decently staged actors and a story that brings us out of the playschool horror world. Avanthika is good as an autistic kid but I am not really sure whether the character is designed accurately with the real characteristics of autism. Even though the connection of mother nature to Avantika’s character looks original, the backstory feels hurriedly told. And by the time the film ends, a preachy message is thrown to our face with an extended climax voice-over that does nothing but tests our patience.
On a positive note, the film has a strong technical team that ensures that we give our attention till the end. Be it capturing the scenic beauty of the hills or setting an eerie mood for the paranormal sequences, cinematographer Roberto heavily lifts the film’s engaging factor. Prithvi Chandrasekhar's background music uplifts the intensity of the sequences quite well. That said, Rathindran proves again that he is a good story writer with a knack for coming up with original ideas. If only the execution was better Boomika would have been a memorable eco-horror. Well, I am very sure that Rathindran is here to stay to give us better films next time!
VERDICT:
Despite the novel concept and technical finesse, Boomika suffers from shoddy execution and artificial performances that scream its eco-friendly message blatantly.
CELLULOID METER- 2.5/5:
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