Starring K. L. Saigal, Jamuna Barua, Pahari Sanyal, Shyam Laha, Sitara Devi, and Nemo,[3] it revolves around Ratan, an unemployed university graduate, and his relationship with Shrimati, who is on the run from her cruel husband.

Earning ₹55 lakhs net (valued at about ₹39.78 crore in 2009), Zindagi was the highest-grossing Indian film at the time of its release, before its record was broken by Khazanchi in 1941.

Shrimati, who has escaped from her brutal husband, teams up with Ratan and they together pretend to run a charitable trust, collecting money from people in the name of donations.

A new Shrimati shuns all forms of corrupt ways of life and starts to do good deeds as a redemption for her sins.

[10] Credits adapted from the films's pressbook:[10] The music composer was Pankaj Mullick with lyrics by Kidar Sharma and Arzu Lucknavi.

[6] Bhagwan Das Garga writes, "The plot is slight but Barua's nuanced characterization and wealth of observation makes it a richly rewarding work.

In a frame sequence of the 1939 film Aadmi by V. Shantaram, which was simultaneously released along with Zindagi, the romantic "pessimism" of Barua was caricatured.

Death-helpless, lingering, pathetic death-has been the ending of most of Barua's pictures including Devdas, Manzil, Mukti and Zindagi.