Trivikram Srinivas (of Athadu fame) entered Tollywood as a story writer. He excelled in dialogue writing and when he became popular as a writer, he turned director and got the chance to direct Mahesh Babu.

Producer Allu Aravind chose Trivikram to script and direct Jalsa with Pawan Kalyan in the lead, to be produced under Gita Arts banner. Jalsa was surrounded with hype right from the muhurat to create high expectations with audiences and Pawan Kalyan's fans. Now, coming to the storyline:

Son of a poor farmer (Pruthvi), Sanjay (Pawan Kalyan) lives in a village, which has no facilities, not even potable water. His brother dies of heart disease and Sanjay's parents commit suicide after their crop fails.

To take revenge against society, young Sanjay joins the Naxals as a courier. When most of Sanjay’s cadre is killed in an encounter, he helps a minister to escape from a landmine blast. Sanjay is apprehended by a police officer (Prakashraj). He surrenders and decides to reform.

He joins college and falls in love with the SP's daughter Indu (Kamalini Mukherjee). But the SP isn’t convinced about Sanjay and gets Indu married to an NRI.

Then Sanjay meets Jyotsna aka Joe (Parvati Melton) and her sister Bhagmati aka Bhagi (Ileana). Both lose their hearts to Sanjay but Sanjay snubs Joe. So Bhagi tries her luck and succeeds in winning his heart. History repeats itself when Bhagi's father refuses to approve of Sanjay as a son-in-law.

Sanjay beats up the son of a factionist and land mafia leader Damodar Reddy (Mukesh Rushi), thus becoming his enemy. Sitting in jail, Damodar Reddy oversees his criminal empire with the help of his right hand Sreenu (Tanikella Bharani).

Now comes a twist in the tale. How Sanjay vanquishes his enemy and and wins the girl forms the climax. So watch and enjoy!

Pawan Kalyan has made the film lively from beginning to end with his good performance and good comic timing. His make up, costumes and acting are similar to his earlier films Tholiprema, Khushi and Bhadri.

For a change, Ileana appears in a deglamourized girl-next-door role, in which Trivikram has given her scope to perform with chirpiness.

Parvathi Melton is overpowering next to Pawan Kalyan, providing the oomph factor. Kamalini has a wink-and-you-miss-her role. Mukesh Rushi has performed with style. Prakashraj is so-so as Kamalini’s father. Brahmanandam’s comedy is average.

Technically, music is the major highlight. It is the first time Devi Sri Prasad and Pawan Kalyan have come together with good results. The audio was a chartbuster since its release. Mahesh Babu’s voice-over is another highlight.

Though the storyline written by him is good, director Trivikram Srinivas could have exploited the screenplay better. He maintains the humour as well as the love story neatly through the firs half but the long dialogue that continues into the second half slows the tempo; some scenes could have been shorter.

Song choreography is average. Action scenes are stylish but reminiscent of Pawan’s earlier roles.