Jeeva

‘Jeeva’ is the story of a brat (Prajwal) who reunites with his love (Ruthwa). Without going into details, it can be said that the debutant director tries to be ‘different’ in his narration. But he cannot escape the influence, or inspiration, of scores of such films in several languages. So, ‘Jeeva’ raises hopes of an intelligent film before falling flat soon, beginning with the college scenes – common sense is at a premium here and in the second half as well.

Sticking to a formula, ‘Jeeva’ gives us the mandatory college song, love between the sidekicks of the hero and the heroine ( a scene that is high on the grosso-meter) masquerading as comedy. Before the patience wears out, the story picks up, with a stray fresh dialogue here and there. It is here that Prajwal’s presence begins to assert and Ruthwa’s magic works. The hero has shed his gawkiness while gaining weight and appears assured, a definite improvement as an actor. Heroine Ruthwa is blessed with unusual beauty, a beauty that compliments any kind of role, backed by understated ease, last seen in ‘Jolly Days’. This girl is indeed a minimum guarantee girl in terms of performance, an actress to watch out for.

Chandrashekhar, the heroine’s sister and father, the lead pair’s friends and Rangayana Raghu are all adequate, with the latter not given much chance to ham. For all this, the director gets a pat on the back. So does Kaviraj for his ‘summane eke bande’ song-evocative, but familiar as well. Sabhakumar’s camerawork is tidy.

But several stupid mistakes show that the director has tried to play safe and appease one and all. Saisuresh’s scissors must be credited for saving the film from turning into another insipid and mediocre fare. ‘Jeeva’ lacks life, but Ruthwa and Prajwal are not bad at all.