Ramanna Youth Review: A youthful drama where comedy clicks emotions fail

2.5/5

Story

Ramanna Youth is set in the small town of Ankshapur, Telangana. Raju(Abhay Naveen) is a careless youth whose only aim is to become a youth leader. He ideologies a powerful leader named Ramanna(Srikanth Iyengar) and tries hard to get into the good books of the leader. After a point, a clueless Raju even decides to go to Hyderabad and meet Ramanna personally. Will the innocent Raju's plan work? did the politician meet Raju? and what issues Raju and his friends go through is the story of the film.

Review

Ramanna Youth is yet another film that depicts the small-town culture of Telangana. YouTuber and character actor, Abhay Ram plays the main lead and also directs Ramanna Youth which is the story of four friends who spoil their lives by going after a politician who does not even care about them. 

The film has a very small town set up and director Abhay has made sure the casting is right. From Srikanth Iyengar to the other key friends' roles, Ramanna Youth has a perfect cast and everyone performs well. As the film is set in a small town, the production values are impressive.

The film starts on a simple note and showcases how Raju and his friends only aim to become famous in their villages. The boozing, fighting, and small-town mentalities of the characters are elevated well. But the sad part is that it is not that exciting and gets repetitive after a while. There are a few logical errors that go missing in the film.

There is a chance of a natural love story but director Abhay concentrates more on the journey of Raju and his friends. Because of this, the film looks lengthy and lacks novelty. Ramanna Youth has too many scenes of boozing and abusing in the film which look a bit over the top after a while. Perhaps some comedy and romance would have made matters better.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the film is the lack of emotional connection. Abhay Naveen's story idea and backdrop are good but he has failed to create an emotional connection between the characters. The motto of the film is to show how youth are going after leaders and spoiling their lives. 

The struggles of the youth are showcased in the climax and this needed a very strong emotional connection. But that does not happen and the film ends on a very ordinary note. The conflict point in the film is water-thin and one gets a feeling that how can one get so foolish to head to a city like Hyderabad just to meet a powerful politician without even having any idea about him. 

Also Read: Vishwak Sen on Ramanna Youth: You don’t need big budgets to make history 

When it comes to performances, Ramanna Youth has all the Telangana actors who do their jobs well. Popular YouTuber, Anil Geela plays one of the friends and is very good in his role. His body language and comedy timing are neat. Srikanth Iyengar as the corrupt politician brings a lot of depth to the film. Jagan Yogi Babu was neat in his role but Tagubothu Ramesh got a great role of a youth leader and did well.

Ramanna Youth has music by Kamran. While his songs were ordinary, the BGM was quite impressive. Fahad Abdul Majed's camera work is quite impressive as it captures the small town setup in a striking manner. The editing in the first half could have been a lot better and the production design was neat. 

But the place where Ramanna Youth falters is the manner in which the conveyed in a very dull manner. The film has a decent second half and the manner in which the friends go through issues meeting the politician is showcased well. But the ending could have been a bit more hard-hitting and that does not happen making the film a below-average village drama.

Verdict

On the whole, Ramanna Youth is a rustic village drama that has a decent backdrop. But the narration is jaded and things start working only in the last half an hour. Emotions-wise too, the film does not move you much and ends as a dull watch this weekend.

Also Read: Ramanna Youth reviews out: Abhai Naveen's rural comedy draws praise from Telugu celebs