If you are wondering that Zindagi Tere Naam is a romantic movie, let me add a genre to it – drama, and a sub genre to it – flashback love story. No, there is no time travel as in his son’s Haunted, but Mithun Chakraborty who is in the grey haired days of his life (in the movie as well) recalls his once found then lost then found again lost love, Anjali – the senior being played by Rajneeta and the younger being played by Priyanka (not Chopra) in the movie.

It is essentially a love story of Siddhartha (Aseem Khan and later Mithun) and Anjali (Priyanka and later Rajneeta). Siddhartha is a jungle boy who wears western outfits even back in 1970s and in Dalhousie where the movie is set, which does not even look remotely close to what it was back then. Anjali also does not belong to that decade either, at least by her clothes and well shampooed hair throughout the film. Siddhartha is a wood cutter and a violin maker, I wonder if violins are made by such rough hands. Oh, he also plays a violin without moving his fingers on the fret board. Anjali is on a holiday with her parents and after a nice dip in the lake, when she emerges looking all drenched, finds an instant admirer in Siddhartha who is instantly smitten by the urban lady.

The plot starts with several clichés and works down the clichéd and by now exhausted and predictable story lines. The girl’s parents (Dilip Tahil and Supriya Karnik) reject Siddhartha and find a suitable groom in Vishal played by Ashish. You are certainly not expecting the movie to take that course and it does not since Siddhartha has built a dream house, much like the manors found in the European countryside for Anjali who must do anything but not return.

The movie does not start there but in modern times where an old Siddhartha, our own Mithun Dada trying to take care of Anjali (Rajneeta) since she is suffering from Alzheimer’s. Yes, there has to be some twist and concoctions to make sense of the movie. By the time you realize that the movie is longer than 2 hours, you would feel like having spent more than 2 days on the seat.

Zindagi Tere Naam has nothing to impress you. Mithun Chakraborty and Rajneeta who had once rocked the silver screen as a lead pair had very little meat in their roles to make any impact. Aseem and Anjali would be forgotten even before the movie ends. The music is not engrossing and the editing, cinematography and the performances of the supporting cast are not world class either.

Ashu Trikha, the director manages to rope in Dia Mirza for an item number. For what reason, no one can gauge and if you are wondering who Ashu Trikha is then here is a cue, remember Deewanapan, the debut film of Arjun Rampal which also had Dia Mirza incidentally. Yes, it’s the same Director and while Arjun Rampal may have created a place for himself, Ashu Trikha certainly has not and nor would the lead pair of Zindagi Tere Naam unless they transform themselves miraculously.

Had the focus been of Mithun and Rajneeta, perhaps a few oldies would have hopped on o the theaters. With the unimpressive story, tacky performances, funny lines that are not funny and some clichéd romantic moments which offer nothing more that cuddling and bubbling, Zindagi Tere Naam is a must not watch. After Paan Singh Tomar and Kahaani (both still running strong all over), this is Bollywood changing gears to old school flop drama.