Jamba Lakidi Pamba

Jamba Lakidi Pamba is a Telugu fantasy comedy written and directed by E. V. V. Satyanarayana, starring Naresh and Aamani, in her Telugu debut. It imagines a city where a magic herb swaps the behaviour of men and women overnight, and uses that to poke fun at male domination. It first came out in 1992 and went unnoticed, but a re-release on 12 July 1993 turned it into a hit, and it is still remembered for its premise.

What the story is about

In Vizag, Ramalakshmi is fed up with how the women of her colony are treated while their husbands play cards and lord it over them. Every time she is angry about it, a mysterious letter appears from nowhere, and every time she tears it up unread. One day she reads it. It leads her to Amba, a yogini in the Borra Caves who lost her family to male cruelty and has spent years of penance preparing a herb called Jamba Lakidi Pamba. Ramalakshmi is asked to mix it into the city’s drinking water. The next morning, men across Vizag start behaving like women and women like men. The government quarantines the city and sends in a police officer, Vijay, to find out what has happened, and somehow he is still behaving like himself. The comedy runs from there.

Cast and crew

• Naresh as Vijay
• Aamani as Ramalakshmi
• Brahmanandam as Anandam, Vijay’s brother
• Babu Mohan as Nagulu, a sub-inspector
• Kota Srinivasa Rao as Ramalakshmi’s father
• Ali as Ramalakshmi’s brother
• Jaya Prakash Reddy as Keeravani
• Jayalalitha as Thutala Rani, a bandit
• Kallu Chidambaram as Chidambarananda Swamy
• Sri Lakshmi as Paru

Writer-director: E. V. V. Satyanarayana. Producer: D. V. V. Danayya. Music: Raj–Koti, with lyrics by Bhuvana Chandra.

Making of the film

The story of how it was made was retold by Samayam Telugu. EVV first came up with the idea of men and women swapping roles while he was an assistant to Jandhyala, and sent it as a story to Andhra Jyothi, which turned it down. He later combined it with the theme of a play by Madireddy Sulochana, with help from Diwakar Babu. D. V. V. Danayya agreed to produce, and the working title, Reverse Gear, was dropped for fear it would be taken the wrong way. EVV had written the lead for Rajendra Prasad, who was too busy, so Naresh signed on; the Tamil actress Meenakshi took the screen name Aamani for her Telugu debut. The whole film was shot in Visakhapatnam in about a month.

Release and box office

The film’s first release flopped; according to Samayam Telugu it ran for only a day. Wikipedia dates that release to 1992 in one place and 1993 in another, and our record has 1992. After the success of EVV’s Varasudu, it was brought back on 12 July 1993 and this time became a commercial success. It was later remade in Kannada as Nari Munidare Gandu Parari (2004), and a 2018 Telugu film reused its title and concept.

Where to watch Jamba Lakidi Pamba

Jamba Lakidi Pamba is listed on Aha: our record is based on the Aha listing. We do not have a date for when it was added. Availability can vary by region and plan, so check the listing before you press play.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Jamba Lakidi Pamba (1992 film) and the article it cites, linked above; the Aha listing; our own cast and crew records.