First love in one's life is always memorable. It never dies; It may just hide beneath the layers of time.
And so it is for Raju (Srikanth) and Dhana Lakshmi (Kalyani). The young friends from school have a tender spot for each other. But it is a love steeped in dignity and docility as the duo keep their feelings to themselves.
And because of that they end up going their separate ways. Raju gets married to Bhanu (Gopika) while Dhana Lakshmi ties the knot elsewhere. Bhanu is rich and hence Raju's fortunes change for the better while Dhana Lakshmi is not so lucky and ends up as widow with a small kid in tow.
And one day when Raju chances to meet Dhana Lakshmi as a maidservant, he is shattered. He takes her to his house as a maidservant and hides the fact of his relationship with her to his wife.
And then there is the usual confusion of over who feels what. But finally all is well that ends well.
It is a slice of life story that has reflections in every one's life. But director Krishna Reddy's biggest failing may be the fact that he never gets the tempo going. He doesn't take charge at the start itself and so the film gets bogged down all through. The pace of the film is too slow for anyone to get really engrossed.
But to be fair to Krishna Reddy, he does not resort to cheap gimmicks and sticks to a linear narration.
On the artistes' front, Srikanth is okay. But he could have been better as a man torn between his love and wife. Kalyani in a tears-inducing role is compact (in the Tamil original Azhagi the hugely talented Nanditha Das played this role). But her maudlin show leaves you a bit irritated at times. Gopika is fresh as a new daisy. She is youthful and brings a fervor to her role.
The music of Keervani is soft and soothing. The other technical departments are adequate.
Letha Mansula is a soft and tender story. But it surely deserved a harder script.
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