One of the producers of Kannada film, Zindagi, was also part of last year's blockbuster, Duniya, which set a new trend in the film industry. But while both films have a Hindi title, the similarity stops there.

Duniya was an authentic portrayal of the Bangalore underworld, and had some top technical work. Zindagi, unfortunately, is a big disappointment -- the script does not make sense, the comic sequences are terrible, the editing is shoddy, and the lead actors are miscast. Rajeev and Priyanka fail to deliver and look exhausted through the film.

Mugil, who had directed the yet-unreleased Phatinga, directs Zindagi, his second film. The film looks like an amateurish attempt made from a director, drained of all creative inputs. One wonders if he had reviewed his script before he started shooting it. That's why we have the hero, with two bullets in his body, continuing his soliloquy for more than five minutes.

Seenu leaves his village with his friends to avoid getting married to a relative. In the city, he meets Dr Sharmi, and falls in love with her. Later, Seenu learns that Sharmi is engaged to a policeman, and the two live together. A frustrated Seenu decides to break the relationship and tries many tricks to win Sharmi over. The attempts don't win us over, however.

Kishor, playing the policeman, tries to bring some order into the film through his performance. All the other artistes look tired.

Music director Mysore Mohan makes a comeback after more than two decades but his music is unimpressive. Cameraman Mallikarjuna is the only technician, who does a decent job.

Zindagi may well compete with the worst films of the year. Avoid at all costs.

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