Lifeu Ishtene (ಲೈಫು ಇಷ್ಟೇನೆ)

After penning the scripts for many of Yograj Bhat’s movies, Pawan Kumar made his directorial debut with Lifeu Ishtene (ಲೈಫು ಇಷ್ಟೇನೆ) last year. Taking a philosophical look at love, this movie is dark, much like his earlier Manasaare. It follows the life of the hero (Diganth) through his many trysts with love from school to college to the workplace. The hero ends up realizing that he (and everyone else) is on a futile and endless pursuit of love that is caught in an Escher-esque infinity.

Pawan is a guy with a million ideas, anyone can see that with his earlier movies. However, Lifeu Ishtene suffers from his amateur directing skills. The idea is great, but the implementation is not. The movie is unnecessarily long, dealing with too many of the hero’s attempts at love. I tend to enjoy short movies that deal with a slice of life, not the baggage of the entire life of a person. The songs here are okay, but none stands out or is worth putting on a playlist. If Pawan is serious, he should stop putting such songs (the typical practice in Indian movies) which break the flow of the plot. The only song which helps the story along and the one I like is Kanasina Hosaputa. It is a nice introspection by the hero after he has been stiffed, shot very much like Tanhayee in Dil Chahta Hai. Lifeu Ishtene is a decent attempt that would have been watchable, if it was shorter and took itself a bit less seriously.