And yet it all comes across as a pale Moulin Rouge imitation, as if that eye-poppingly original director was being reined in, perhaps by the very source material many have called unfilmable. The result is trite, a mess of restless marionettes — characters made wooden and visibly dying to burst into song but never allowed to — peopled by very fine actors forced to ham it up.

Overall, ‘The Great Gatsby’ gives you every reason to rejoice and celebrate love. Despite the story of a doomed love and a brooding lover, Baz Luhrmann brings in much more to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic.

Luhrmann, who also co-wrote the screenplay, stuns you — and not in a nice way — with this introduction to Gatsby’s world and with later how Gatsby makes an appearance himself.

…Gatsby is greedily gorgeous and occasionally sags, luxuriating in a 3D-theatric too many. Still, it showcases Fitzgerald’s drama with flair – a society dancing on a knife’s edge, where everyone drank and romanced too much, but you also heard an odd, wistful sigh – maar daala.

The length and pace of the second half make watching the film a tedious experience. Yes, it is stylish and there is colour and shimmer in every frame, but as the end credits roll all that you remember are Jay-Z and Lana Del Rey’s melodic verses. And that doesn’t bode too well for the film’s reputation.

The Great Gatsby is a perfect example of all phantasmagorias and no substance. Quoting Fitzgerald for their rescue in an attempt to save their loose screenplay, the film barely invokes a few heartfelt moments. Eroding the power of a classic, it is only Leonardo DiCaprio who delivers magnanimously.

Amitabh Bachchan, in a one-scene cameo as Meyer Wolfsheim tells the world what we always knew: Big B is an actor who needs just that one scene.

Overall, the film carries with it all the style of its director and cast. However, what made the story so popular and loved, was not the dazzle but its heart. That is where this film falls short.

While the book left ample scope for a reader to fill in the settings, romanticise the era and paint the characters his own shade of grey, Luhrmann’s visual flourish leaves little to imagination.

In a weird sort of way, The Great Gatsby is to America what Devdas is to Indians. Deep down, they are both shallow books, which is one of the reasons they make for great tent-pole entertainment.