'The Notebook' Ripped To Shreds!

Based on a novel by author Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams was one of the most welcomed love stories in recent times. However, the same cannot be said for Zindagi Tere Naam, a shameless copy of the movie, which despite being a Bollywood version of The Notebook, manages to make even the most optimistic viewer wrinkle his nose in disappointment.

The movie starts off with Singh (Mithun Chakraborthy), an elderly man reading a story from a book to a patient (Ranjeeta) of a nursing home. The story takes the audience back in time to the 70s when rich girl Anjali (Priyanka Mehta) comes to the picturesque Dalhousie with her family for a vacation and ends up attracting the affections of local boy Siddharth (Aseem Ali Khan). The latter pursues Anjali with a single-minded determination till she gives in and the two form a friendship, that soon blossoms into love.

However, the poor boy-rich girl dynamics come into play and the lovers get separated till one day, Anjali, who is about to get engaged to some rich yuppie, sees Siddharth's photograph in a newspaper along with an article about a bungalow that he has acquired (the same bungalow which the lad had promised to buy for her sometime in the past).

Old memories come to the fore and Anjali drops everything to meet him for one last time before going back to the life decided for her. However, true love shall always triumph and what happens later is the stuff most love stories are made of…

The only redeeming virtue the film has is in the form of Mithun Chakraborthy, who despite having a short role, nevertheless manages to impress in the few emotional scenes. Apart from the veteran actor, there is absolutely nothing to hold the viewer glued to the seat. On the contrary, you might find yourself checking the time again and again waiting for the end credits to roll. The lead pair displays zero chemistry and the script and screenplay are as shoddy as can be. Dalip Tahil and Sharat Saxena are strictly passable in supporting roles.

All in all, a better idea would be to just rent a DVD of The Notebook, unless of course, you are a die-hard Mithun fan who wants to see him paired opposite yesteryear actress Ranjeeta once again after many years…