Jamba Lakidi Pamba: A lacklustre fare

Despite the fact that veteran filmmaker E V V Satyanarayana ‘Jambalakidi Pamba’ revolved around a quirky plot of gender exchange, he touched upon the pertinent issues in the male chauvinistic society deftly. Narrating humorously, he made women in the film to pay back their drunken and lusting husbands in their own coin.

Unfortunately, the latest rehash is no match to the original and the only difference is that in the original, the protagonists- Naresh and Aamani, remain untouched with the magic potion, while other characters exchange genders. Whereas, in the latest, the hero Srinivas Reddy and the heroine Siddhi Idnani swap genders and evoke a few laughs but director J B Murali Krishna falls flat on his face. He didn’t capture the `spirit’ of the original, which was women-centric highlighting their sufferings, while choosing to swap the genders of an estranged couple.

If he is under the impression that EVV tasted success because of a few hilarious scenes, he is wrong, because scenes like a man suffering labour pains and wearing thalis and drawing rangolis and women asking men to serve snacks for their drinks had a deeper meaning, which Murali Krishna couldn’t grasp and is bound to pay a big price. Coming to the story, a year after marriage, Varun (Srinivasa Reddy) and Pallavi (Siddhi Idnani) are stuck in marital discord. They seek divorce by mutual consent and approach a lawyer (Posani).

However, the lawyer suddenly dies and returns as a ghost to the couple’s home to unite them so that his spirit can be liberated. Since they are not reconciling, he swaps their genders -- husband as wife and wife as husband, but their appearance doesn't change, only their behavior. Srinivas Reddy and Siddhi manage to impress to some extent and later, they falter due to an incoherent screenplay. Although Vennela Kishore evokes a few laughs, Posani lacks enough meat, while Hari Teja’s performance is mediocre.

Post interval, one expected hilarious sequences, but what we get to see is Srinivas Reddy appearing in women's night dresses, wearing bra and talking like a women while Siddhi smoking cigarettes and drinking wine. Thus, the director ends up making a complete mockery of EVV’s plot.

Srinivasa Reddy's father calls him and tells him to come to their village. When the former comes to know that his son has become an eneuch lacking libido, he tickles the laughing bones, along with scenes of Dhanraj, Sathyam Rajesh and Vennela Kishore towards the end. Young directors should be careful while rehashing popular yesteryear movies, since some of them will be etched in the minds of the people and any flip flop could have adverse results. This lacklustre film is one good example of a failed copycat act.