HOW can it be that a movie as beautiful to look at as "Saawariya" is so . . . boring?

Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the love story, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, is the first Bollywood movie produced in Hollywood, which has an annoying habit of sucking the life out of material.

The setting is a fairy-tale land where a Hindu boy (annoying Ranbir Kapoor) falls for a Muslim girl (drop-dead gorgeous Sonam Kapoor) who is waiting for her lover who has been gone for a year but had promised to return. (Both leads come from famous show-business families, but are not related.)

The sets and costumes are gorgeous, and the blue-hued cinematography (by Ravi K. Chandran) is pleasing. But the story drags, despite the fact that at a little over two hours, it's short by Bollywood standards.

The characters fail to grab our interest, and the songs (10 of them) are instantly forgettable.

"Saawariya," which translates as "beloved," is yet another example of Hollywood trying to please everybody and, as a result, pleasing nobody.