What if you could not keep your promises to your beloved since one life wasn't enough for it? and what if there was something unsaid in your relationship which could have made it better if it had been said? MANAM answers these questions and takes us on a fantastic journey spanning three generations and keeps us spellbound connecting us to all the lead actors in the movie. The movie begins with a tragic & fatal accident of couple Radha mohan (Akkineni Chaitanya) & Krishnaveni (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) while on their way to get a divorce to end their bickering and battering marriage. Nageshwar Rao A.K.A. Bittu (Akkineni Nagarjuna), their son grows up and becomes a business man big enough to land on the Forbes cover. A chance encounter with Nagarjuna (Akkineni Chaitanya) on a flight shocks him and he realizes that it is his father who has been reincarnated. He decides to search for his mother and reunite her with his father and finally meets Priya (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) and gets them together even going to the extent of breaking up Nagarjuna's present relationship with Prema (Rashi Khanna). Out of the blue enters Anjali (Shreya Saran) a doctor who forces Nageshwar rao to help get a patient, a 80-year-old Chaitanya (Akkineni Nageshwar Rao, doing his swan song) to a hospital and also forces him to donate blood. Anjali and Nageshwar Rao find it strange that their hearts keep beating faster when ever they meet each other. The secret is known only to Chaitanya who realizes that both of them are his parents who died tragically when he was kid due to an innocent childish prank played by him. He decides to bring them together. The movie belongs completely to Nagarjuna as he plays the main protagonist Nageshwar Rao as well as Seetharamudu and acts as the connecting link between the two generations in this story. He does the romantic as well as the emotional scenes with equal ease and can still give the younger lot a run for their money. Samantha Ruth Prabhu rules the movie with her "momma" act, first as the dejected housewife, next as the caring and bubbly teen who loves to talk and talk. She excels in the prologue as well as the scenes where she remembers her past life and her salsa act was the best in the movie. Shreya Saran does her bit and does it flawlessly as the stammering farmer and the stammering doctor in her present life. The movie takes the term ILOVE YOU to a new level with her story. Akkineni Naga Chaitanya is the surprise package, he really does act in this one. First as the helpless husband to trying to win over his wife and next as the lovelorn boy trying to woo the new love in his life. The death scene showcases the best performance from this actor. Akkineni Nageshwar Rao, notwithstanding the low screen time he has, makes his presence felt and does give some of the finest performances ever on screen, especially the hospital scene where he recognizes his parents and the pre-climax scene. Cameos by Amala Akkineni, Amitabh Bachan and Akkineni Akhil leave you surprised and asking for more.
Vikram Kumar has taken tollywood to a new level with this fantasy love story and actually gives us four stories for the price of one and in certain scenes, you are not sure if you are watching a telugu movie or an episode from the TWILIGHT ZONE. His amazing scene to detail down to the cars of that period to the changing fashions of a bygone era is brilliant. The climax sequences chill you and remind you of the FINAL DESTINATION movies. This is one of those movies where you are actually looking at the characters instead of the actors playing them. A role reversal by the three protagonists was really clever along with the names. The movie is loosely based on the Steven Spielberg produced Robert Zemekis Film BACK TO THE FUTURE, but without the time travel. Reincarnation trades places with time travel, although I feel that time travel could have been a better choice too. Dialogues by Harshavardhan are hilarious especially the scene where Priya takes Nageshwar Rao to meet Anjali in the hospital and also each of the characters had some of the best one liners ever devoted to them. Music by Anoop Reubens is good but easily forgettable, anyways people would not remember this movie for its music. After watching this movie, the words I LOVE YOU and LADIES FIRST would in fact change the perception you had of them before watching this movie.
