Debutante director Vinod Lingala aptly described 'Guppedantha Prema' as all about the purity and beauty of first love.  While the avowed theme is conveyed through the film, the complaint is that the narration is neither poetic nor rom-comish.  In short, it is neither here nor there.

Yuvan (Sai Ronak) enters the University with plenty of hopes - about finding true love, just as his parents had in the same campus decades ago.  He finds true love in Sandhya (Aditi Singh), his senior, who yearns for freedom and finds it in the company of Yuvan.  But when he confesses his ultra-pure love to her, Sandhya has to go on a vacation.  She can't handle the baggage of a distant relationship.  Yu sobs, boozes and swears.  Sandy, weeks later, hugs him and there begins an experimental love encounter that works on a sweet poetic deal between the two.  Once, the separation becomes longer than expected.  Enters the scene Swara (Aishwarya).

What follows is a triangular love game filled with 'guppedantha' agonizing, 'guppedantha' naughty courting, 'guppedantha' sympathizing, and 'guppedantha' poetry.  (Note: No metaphorical meaning intended by using 'guppedantha').

In telling a story supposedly inspired by a Mani Ratnam masterpiece, the writer-director comes with some good dialogue-writing.  But the merit ends there.  The screenplay blights the soul of the story line for sure.  Swarna's character was intended to add entertainment (read fun) quotient.  However, in retrospect, what is the utility of that character in driving home the theme?  If something was intended, it is not properly conveyed through the narration.  Much as Swarna is there to say that the wound wrought by love can be cured only by love, much as she is bubbly and innocuous, there is no gravitas overall.

After a while, the screenplay takes the form of frivolous fun-making on the campus.

The University in the grip of a disciplinarian dean, who is Sandhya's boring dad.  The confrontation between the dad and Yuvan should have added interest.  Instead, the element comes across as of no use.

If the reference to 'Toli Prema' is intentional, the 'Githanjali' hangover is subtle.  Notice it in the appearance of Sandhya as a spirit out to scare the daylights out of the male lead in her first scene.

Some of the elements are potentially good, but their actuality is not realized.  Clearly, the director lacks experience and his novice ways are glaring.  He should have had a good technical team.  Look at the BGM in the scene where Yuvan dances Sandhya to Freedom.  Instead of starting off on a silent note, the BGM is overdone from the beginning in this scene.  As for Aishwarya, she has no charm to pull off such a character.

The film is at least watchable when the hero looks serious.  When he is behaving like a Jr Hrithik Roshan, it's not.  The debutante does a fair enough job in serious scenes.  As for Aditi Singh, she is too baby-faced to convey certain emotions.  Naveen Neni's comedy is a total letdown.

If the dialogues are good here and there, cliched lines like 'This is the best time of my life' are too boring.  The usage of words like serendipity don't add heft.  Neither do the little poems.

Navneeth Sundar's music is inspired and the BGM has no takeaway.  Sanjay Loknath's cinematography is sub par.

Verdict: An inspired love story told as a half-baked narration.