Sri Lakshmi Venkateswara Cinemas and RT Team Works’ Ramarao On Duty (dubbed from the Telugu film of the same name; UA) is the story of a principled revenue officer.
B. Rama Rao (Ravi Teja) is an honest revenue officer who is posted at Chittoor. One day, his ex-girlfriend, Malini (Rajisha Vijayan), tells him that her husband had gone missing. She seeks his help to trace him. That’s when Rama Rao realises that many people in the village were missing. He also understands that the mystery of the missing persons is connected with red sandalwood smuggling in the area. Who is the main smuggler? How does Rama Rao solve the mystery of the missing persons?
Sarath Mandava has written a dull story and a matching screenplay. In fact, the story is so hotch-potch in the first half that the only slightly better second half seems to be like some huge relief. There is no strong antagonist in the drama, because of which the plot looks lop-sided. Emotions fall flat on their face. An investigative thriller ought to be fast-paced and gripping but the screenplay is so boring that the thrill quotient goes out of the window. Dialogues are dull.
Ravi Teja does well in the title role. Divyansha Kaushik is ordinary as Nandini. Rajisha Vijayan hardly impresses as Malini. Nassar is alright as Rama Rao’s father. Tanikella Bharani has his moments as the Collector. Venu Thottempudi stands his own as Jammi Murali. Naresh (as Rama Rao’s father-in-law), Pavitra Lokesh (as Rama Rao’s mother), John Vijay (as SP Dev Anand), Chaitanya Krishna (as Surendra), Rahul Ramakrishna (as Ananth), Thotapalli Madhu (as MLA Satyanarayana), Sree, Madhusudhan Rao, Anveshi Jain (as bar dancer Seesa) and the others lend routine support.
Like his script, Sarath Mandava’s direction is weak. Sam C.S.’s music and background score are just about functional. Lyrics are dull. Song picturisations leave something to be desired. Sathyan Sooryan’s cinematography is alright. Action and stunt scenes don’t afford much thrill. Editing (Praveen K.L.) is very loose. Dubbing is ordinary.
On the whole, Ramarao On Duty is a flop show.
Released on 5-8-’22 at Glamour (daily 4 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Grand Master. Publicity & opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was very weak everywhere.