Student crush

Karthik (Naga Chaitanya) wants to pursue a career in films as a director though he is an engineer and faces protest from his parents. Meanwhile, his house owner Joseph (Devan) has got a daughter Jesse (Samantha) and it on seeing her that Karthik's heart flutters and he falls for her instantly. From then on, he keeps going after her to win her heart and after few moments of yes and no, she finally admits her feelings for him. However, life takes a turn for Karthik due to something that Jesse does and that transforms their relationship. What happens from there forms the rest of the story.

Naga Chaitanya has given a mature performance yet again and though he could have shown subtlety and emotion during sensitive scenes, overall it is a good job from him. Samantha looks very nice and even her performance is remarkable for a debutante. She has confidence, poise and good screen presence. Krishnudu came up with some humor, Surekha Vani was normal, Devan made his presence felt though briefly, Puri Jagannadh was himself, Sanjay Swarup was average, the others didn't have much to offer.

The film is basically a mature romantic treat and given the depth of feelings, it strikes the raw nerve of many who have been through a similar experience in real life. While the first half is on the lighter side of emotions, things get intense during the second half and unknowingly, the audience gets dragged into the story. This is high on technical values and production aspects so departments like cinematography, screenplay, editing are masterly. This clubbed with mature performances has given a new appeal to the movie. On the commercial aspect, the film will appeal big time to the A-class audience and given the experience of the movie, perhaps the masses can also pick up a straw or two.