‘Ramba Oorvasi Menaka’ movie review: Allari Naresh’s socio-fantasy is stuck in a time warp

The Telugu film by director Chandra Mohan Chintada delivers a few laughs, but is let down by its dated treatment

Published - September 04, 2026 03:49 pm IST

Allari Naresh and his co-stars in the film | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Nostalgia always offers us a comfortable shoulder to lean on when the going isn’t smooth. This holds true in the case of films when an actor goes through a lean patch. Something that has worked in the past becomes a safety net to mitigate failure. After a series of unsuccessful attempts to reinvent himself post the success of Naandhi, Allari Naresh drifts back to his comfort zone with director Chandra Mohan Chintada’s Telugu film, Ramba Oorvasi Menaka.

Suri (Allari Naresh) is a wannabe actor, born to a failed film aspirant in a village. His life goes downhill as he chances upon an ancient book that can bring the three damsels from Lord Indra’s kingdom — Ramba, Oorvasi, and Menaka — onto the earth. Instead of taking charge of his own destiny, he is busy finding ways to please the damsels from the heavens to eliminate all obstacles in his life.

While Suri is constantly surrounded by two sidekicks — CEO (Naresh) and Parimala (Srinivas Reddy) — what is distinct in the film is the proceedings in Indra’s (Vennela Kishore) world. Narada gets to talk to an average mortal over a mobile, while Indra is also aware of the bad guys from a DC/Marvel film. When a cop needlessly convolutes a case in the village, he jokes, ‘Think like (director) Anil Ravipudi and not Sukumar’.

Indra and his queen discuss Bigg Boss jokes. On earth, his three consorts ask Suri for a pulao meal when they are hungry. They even shake a leg with him on stage to raise money for an operation. Anyone who lusts after the female trio loses their life due to a curse. All the dead bodies are preserved in cold storage in a bid to reverse the actions at an opportune time. It is an Allari Naresh universe after all; nothing is meant to be taken literally.

The socio-fantasy, as one may have guessed, is loosely modelled on the ‘90s S.V. Krishna Reddy hit Yamaleela. Beneath all the frolic, it is centred on a wayward son realising his purpose in life while going to any lengths to save his ailing mother. It is set in the same zone as several of Naresh’s no-brainer, tone-deaf entertainers that enjoyed a dream run in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

The film seeks to repackage the actor’s strengths to a newer audience, yet its grammar is in no mood for an upgrade. Pop-culture references pander to a reel-consuming viewer, without knowing where to stop. Many old tropes, dialogues, and gags remind viewers that not all trends age well, and some things are best left in the past.

Allari Naresh was right when he spoke of the constraints in making slapstick comedies in times of having to be politically correct and not demeaning any community. While it’s hard for comedy to flourish in an overly conscious environment, it would augur well for filmmakers to be cognisant of changing times. For instance, a dialogue in the film where a man defines a kitchen as a ‘place in a house that women don’t frequent much these days’ is in poor taste.

That said, Ramba Oorvasi Menaka is not devoid of laugh-out-loud sequences. A hilarious scene in the first half has Suri, CEO, and Parimala taking turns to be hit by a woman, where Naresh’s monologue about his bachelorhood leaves you in splits. Post-intermission too, the trio’s antics to evade a suspicious cop who tries to implicate the three damsels in a crime are as funny as they get. Such instances, however, are few and far between.

The love track between Suri and his love interest Chinni (Surbhi) could have been integrated into the movie better, as it loses its essence amid the many filler scenes. The bloated drama towards the end, instead of upping the film’s emotional quotient, lays bare its staleness. Despite the silver linings, everything feels unoriginal because of its similarities to several popular socio-fantasies — from Yamagola to Yamaleela and Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari.

While Allari Naresh tries to replicate the tone and energy of his earlier comedies, the film truly belongs to the other Naresh, the veteran who has found a way to make even the most outlandish of sequences work like a dream. Unafraid to make a fool of himself on screen, he performs with such unhinged conviction that he steals the scenes. Srinivas Reddy too gets a worthy outing, offering him formidable company.

Surbhi’s role, expectedly in a film centred on male camaraderie, is underwritten. The women are either sympathetic motherly figures, objects of desire, or love interests. The hyper-sexualised portrayal of the damsels — played by Rashi Singh, Prisha Singh, and Vishnu Priya — remains a sore spot. Vennela Kishore proves funny in parts, though he takes his timing for granted elsewhere. Tarak Ponnappa’s cop role is strictly functional, while Hari Teja passes muster.