By V.S. Rajapur
Film: “Jeeva”; Director: Prabhu Srinivas; Cast: Prajwal Devaraj, Ruthwa, Guru Datt and Chandrashekhar; Music: Guru Kiran; Rating: **

Prajwal Devaraj’s new film “Jeeva” ends up as an ordinary fare despite its gripping climax, which looks like a take off from some Hollywood film. The film suffers mainly because of a weak screenplay and tedious narration. You may have to sit through nearly 100 minutes of boredom to watch an interesting ending.

“Jeeva” still deserves a one-time watch mainly because of Prajwal’s top class performance and Guru Kiran’s melodious compositions. The actor comes out with his best performance till date. He shows a lot of maturity in handling a complex role, which often changes track according to developing situations.

Guru Kiran has come out with some great tunes like “Summane Yaake Bandhe”. But for these two elements, the film could have been a goner.

Debutant director Prabhu Srinivas is a well-known choreographer in the south Indian film industry. He should have taken extreme care in writing the script for his debut film. The main focus of the film is about the confusion created by an exchange of medical reports.

But this element has often been used in many Kannada films and even in Telugu block buster “Premabhishekham”. Prabhu has created a hot-potch script containing some good sequences here and there. But he has scored in what he does best - the songs have been choreographed well.

The story is about Jeeva, the pampered son of a minister. Jeeva is attracted to Jaanaki but she refuses his overtures and even humiliates Jeeva and his father at a party. But later she makes amends and decides to marry Jeeva.

Now, Jeeva turns around and tells her that he wants to avenge the humiliation faced by his father. Meanwhile, because of a serious medical blunder he is diagnosed with cancer. How Jeeva faces this critical situation forms the rest of the story.

Prajwal has put in all efforts to prove his talents, but all goes in vain because of the poor script. Newcomer Ruthwa shows promise.

Veteran actors Guru Datt and Chandrashekhar are effective in their respective roles. And

Guru Kiran scores in his music.

“Jeeva” is a let down mainly because of its poor script. Prajwal, however, shines in this otherwise drab film.