Director Teja knows how to make love stories. He only knows how to make love stories. And there are only so many love stories he can make. That is his real problem. He keeps trying to pour his old wine into newer and better bottles all the time, but it does not really help. Keka, his latest offering, with PC Sreeram's much hyped cinematography is yet another attempt by Teja to tell a love story with a twist, but it does not gel well on the whole.

What is it about: Arjun (Raja) turns up at an orphanage in Kolkata. He is teaching the kids in the orphanage music, so that they can perform in a show and get funding for their orphanage. The practice is recorded by a local TV channel and it is seen by Sujatha (Ishani) on TV in Hyderabad. She immediately calls Kiran (Anup) and asks him to bring Arjun back for her. Kiran promises to bring Arjun back. Meanwhile, there is an attack on Arjun in Kolkata. How the lives of these three characters are intertwined and how the knots are resolved forms the crux of the plot.

What is Good: The visuals in the first half hour are good and the performances by the main leads, Raja, Ishani and Anup are decent. A couple of songs are decent. Teja's direction and screenplay go haywire in the second half. A few scenes evoke laughter, but they are stretched for too long. The rewind technique used in the song Adigaava Maatainaa is impressive.

What is bad:The newcomers. While it is a good idea to introduce newcomers to the field, you also have to make sure you introduce some good ones. Apart from the lead actors in the film, not one performance in the film impresses and a few scenes stretch beyond tolerance. Teja needed to rein in his actors and make them give restrained performances, but he really lets them go over the top in a lot of scenes. Too many unnecessary scenes in the second half make it a strenuous watch. The concert by the orphanage kids is very old world and cliched. The editing should have been far crisper and more than half of Kannamba's scenes could have been chopped off with minimal impact.

Me Thinks: Spare yourself the trouble. Teja really needs to sit down and reinvent himself or atleast decide to let others handle a few departments like story, screenplay etc so that he can come out with a fresh film. Might not find favor in the interiors too.

Tailpiece: The film's lead actors, lyricist Sirivennela Sitarama Sastri gaaru and a lot of others were there in the theatre. Wonder what their reaction was, especially after hearing the groans and moans of the audience. And can a doctor's stethoscope transmit sound through soundproof glass?

Trivia: The main lead of the film, Raja is Sirivennela Seetarama Sastry's son. Navdeep dubbed for him. Raasi dubbed for the heroine and Ajay dubbed for the second lead Anup.

The end result is still a flop - and this is not trivia!