'Boomika' movie review: Incredibly dull, talky thriller

Boomika
Tamil (Netflix)
Director: R Rathindran Prasad
Cast: Aishwarya Rajesh, Avantika Vandanapu, Pavel Navageethan,
Rating: 1.5/5

Horror is a fading genre in Indian cinema and Boomika does little to change the fact. The film is an incredibly dull and talky thriller. R Rathindran Prasad’s debut feature is less a film and more a public service announcement (PSA) on environmental issues.

Aishwarya Rajesh plays Samyuktha, a psychologist who has an autistic son. Her husband Gautham (Vidhu) is a real estate developer. It’s as late as 2021 but it’s a pity that an Indian horror film has to unfold in an abandoned, huge house.

Gautham signs a big project, backed by a politician, and that requires him to go to a mansion in an isolated estate. He takes his family, friend Gayathri (Surya Ganapathy), and sister Aditi (Madhuri), along with him.

Predictably, the group is rattled by strange incidents inside the mansion. The film’s first hour resembles a college skit. The director gives zero prominence to organic build-up to each scene. So with no cinematic rhythm, the horror elements fail to jolt you with fear.
The characters appear robotic. When they speak, it sounds as if they are reading lines from a novel.

A dialogue from Gayathri to Gautham rightly describes how lifeless the characters are. She tells him, “You always add jargon to your sentences but they make no sense,”. If only someone had reminded this to the film’s writer, Boomika could have been more engaging.

Rathindran’s idea of a horror film is jaded. One character doesn’t miss a chance to scream her lungs out in fear. The others are always arguing with each other, not because of solid reasons but to make us feel anxious.

When the group finds out the person behind the paranormal activities, we are shown the story of Boomika (Avantika Vandanapu with a fine performance), an autistic girl with unconditional love for Mother Earth. The flashback portion is terribly preachy and the way Rathindran blends his ‘messages’ inside a horror-film plot is laughable.

Aishwarya Rajesh is supposed to be the face of the film but she seems clueless in a character with minimal scope. With a straight face, she delivers her lines dully. With no layers to it, the role has to be her weakest and a gifted performer like her deserved better.

Rathindran’s exploration of eco-friendliness and children with disabilities needed better focus. Placing these themes inside a horror film is a big misfire.