It was the first time Viswanath and Chiranjeevi worked together; after this success, they went on to make two more movies: Swayamkrushi in 1987 and Aapadbandhavudu in 1992. The film was made at a time when Chiranjeevi had started getting lead actor roles and followed the immensely successful film Intlo Ramayya Veedilo Krishnayya. After making Saptapadi, in which he dealt with the social stigma of the caste system, K. Viswanath followed up with this film in which he dealt with the social malady of the dowry system and is inspired by famous writer Gurazada Venkata Apparao's work Kanyasulkam. The film is the debut of famous actor Subhalekha Sudhakar, his character in the film became so popular that after that, this feature film's title was prefixed to his name.
Plot
Narasimha Murthy (Chiranjeevi) is a multi-talented person who works as a waiter in a star hotel (filming location: Dolphin Hotel, Visakhapatnam) since he is unable to pass his B.A. exams. He meets Sujatha (Sumalata), a lecturer who works in a college run by councilor Ankella Adiseshayya (Satyanarayana). Mohan (Girish), who is an engineer and elder son of Adiseshayya, comes to Sujatha's place with his father for a marriage proposal. During this, Sujata stands up and has an argument with Adiseshayya when the latter demands exorbitant amounts as dowry. This creates a rift between Sujatha and her parents who fear that this act of rebellion might ostracize them from society. Adiseshayya also dismisses Sujatha from her job.
During this difficult phase, Murthy, as a friend, provides solace to Sujatha; their acquaintance is mistaken for love and Sujatha is forced to leave her home. Murthy creates a big ruckus during the felicitation function of Adiseshayya and humiliates him. Adiseshayya retaliates by hiring goons to beat up Murthy and also gets him dismissed from his job.
Left with no choice, Murti takes Sujatha to Hyderabad and meets Rao (Arun), whom he had met during the latter's stay in the hotel where Murthy worked. Rao, who is in a senior post in Allwyn, hires Sujatha. Back home, Lakshmi (Tulasi), younger sister of Sujatha, falls in love with Murali (Subhalekha Sudhakar), who is the younger son of Adiseshayya. Murali threatens his father with suicide and forces his father to let him marry Lakshmi. Left without a choice, Adiseshayya, who had dreamed of getting a huge amount of dowry since his son is a doctor, accepts the proposal with very little dowry. After marriage, Lakshmi leaves to Sujatha's place where Murthy arranges for a marriage between Sujatha and Rao. Lakshmi, with consent from her husband, files a suit against Adiseshayya to surrender his son, Murali to her since she paid for him during her wedding, to teach Adiseshayya a lesson. Seeing this court notice, Adiseshayya, his son, and Lakshmi's parents come to Hyderabad just before Sujatha's marriage. The climax deals with how Adiseshayya is taught a lesson and also ends with the marriage of Murthy and Sujata as per the wishes of the latter. Adiseshayya returns home to find that his elder son Mohan had married the widowed cousin of Murthy.
The movie was very well received by both critics and audiences and did very well at the box office and perhaps would have done even better if it had been released a bit later: It was released within five weeks of Intlo Ramayya Veedilo Krishnayya which was running very successfully at that time.
