LOVE"S LABOUR LOST????????

Am still reeling from a mind numbing assault on my senses entitled "RAM LEELA", which I and my better half had the misfortune of catching or then should I say viewing at a neighbouring multiplex on Monday afternoon...... Mr. Sanjay Leela Bhansali's homage to William Shakespeare's ditty of tragic and unrequited love "Romeo and Juliet" does certainly begin on a bright and boisterous note with the foot tapping Ramji ki chaal dekho but soon meanders into a predictable and sonorous tale of clannish enimity, plots, sub-plots and self indulgent film making that leaves your head pounding and your feet urging you to make a beeline towards the nearest exit........ What can one say about a tale of tragic love that meanders along without ever causing a ripple or two within your heart or even evoking a tear or plaintive cry for the ultimate fate of the star crossed lovers whose love and lives are bound to be sacrificed at the altar of misplaced honour and pride of the clan and "biradari"........ The melodious songs and more than decent performances of Supriya Pathak, Richa Chadda, Barkha Bisht, Ranveer Singh and last but not the least the charming and effusive Deepika Padukone, but sadly these performances are overshadowed by a barrage of bullets, guns, blood ,gore and machinations that would put both a Chanakya and Machiavelli to shame........ Yes, the opulence, attention to detail and mesmerising camera work that Sanjay Leela Bhansali has come to symbolise over the years is very much in place and does tantalise and tease your senses for a brief interlude; but self indulgent editing and nocturnal film making soon puts paid to the opulence and spectacle and leaves you wringing your head in consternation wondering at what might have been with tighter and brutal editing and attention to story and screenplay rather than spectacle and opulence........ "RAM LEELA" is nothing more than a golden opportunity missed, it promises so much and delivers oh so little like that Hindi proverb "OONCHI DUKAAN PHEEKHA PAKWAAN", one expected so much more from an accomplished and seasoned film maker par excellence a la Sanjay Leela Bhansali but unfortunately your heady expectations are soon drowned in the cacophony and resounding boom of deis tamanchas and AK 56 spin offs......... Catch or rather watch this one at your own peril, or then if you are a glutton for punishment or then afflicted with incurable insomia as the same will induce a sense of such blissful stupor that you might not wish to step out of the air conditioned climes of the auditorium for the next week or so........