It's a camouflage designed to make the audience think that something spooky is around the corner.  The unseen force called 'Diya akka' scares the daylights out of the mother, even as the mute little sister is eerily calm, not apparently bewildered by her troubled child-brother's forays into abnormality.  The father is not the one to buy into the 'Diya akka' narrative, nor is he patient enough to have the child psychologist study his son's mysterious behaviour.  'Budugu' is a psychological thriller that engages the audience when delving into the recesses of the child's mind with as much academic lingo as can be indulged in a Telugu movie.  Otherwise, the film is a drag, complete with a fake story concocted by the good mother just to make sure the indifferent father understands the gravity of the situation.  In narrating a storyline that is not run-of-the-mill and that surely deserves attention, Manmohan flounders when it comes to stuffing the proceedings with enough gravitas.

The film begins with a night scene where some youngsters, who are busy playing pranks on one another, themselves meet the little devil.  The ubiquitous 'mantragadu' arrives and takes her home, a house opposite Lakshmi Manchu's.  As Lakshmi notices the ongoing supernatural 'treatment', the little girl looks intently into her, breathing fast.

Next day, Master Prem Babu (as Bunny) is dreaming of a situation where he is condescending towards his father (who is his son), as his wife (perhaps his classmate) looks on helplessly.  The creative scene throws a hint at how the child perceives things and why the film is to be looked through his eyes.

Bunny has a fear of his father (played by Sridhar Rao of 'Komaram Puli' fame) and his bonding with the pet is his only healthy relationship.  After being introduced to the busy, curmudgeon father, the theatre of action shifts to the boy's scary experiences.  Is he possessed?  Or is there more than what meets the eye?

This one is a film that demands some patient watching until Indraja (in a guest role) enters the scene with her diagnosis.  This is a psychological thriller but that with some horror element thrown in.  After the suspense unravels, one has to wait for how it will be ended. In that, Manmohan fails in being imaginative.  Some dose of surrealism and moving words from the parents to the boy would have clinched the deal.  The dumb sister too could have been leveraged to elevate sentiment quotient.

At times, the film comes across as a pseudo-horror like when the maid speaks in a spooky voice about the unseen entity.

Even before the patient-father is officially declared to be so by the doc, one sense it all through.  Lakshmi Manchu is convincing in the role of an upper middle-class working mother, who has to try hard to even get her husband care enough for the children.  Watch her breaking down in front of a mirror.  Another scene where she displays her acting talent in good measure is the surreal scene detailed to Sridhar Rao.  She is so natural in looking frightened as well as worried about her child.

If Lakshmi's is the best performance, Master Prem Babu fits the bill.  He has a full-fledged role and he doesn't disappoint.  The baby girl who played the mute girl is cute.

Technically, it is not a film that boasts of BGM that is worth talking about.  Compared to it, the cameraman walks away with some laurels.

Verdict: A good storyline that doesn't get the right kind of treatment.  The last 20 minutes should have had imaginative scenes but the film falters on this front.