The theme is superb. Acting by AB is superb, but we are used to that. The total effect is okay; the end is weak; the flow is intermittently disturbed because of bad time-sequencing. I would have added scenes/snippets from the stage against every quote that AB made. The real hero of the movie is Compendium of Plays by Shakespeare. AB only portrays a shady sighting of his simulacrum. His devotion to the stage and to the Shakespearean word remains just a part of the hero that is not treated well. The scene that caused death is very poorly "reported". If expressions were what were wanted by the Shakespeare buff, then the audience in me wanted to see exactly those in the "death scene". But then why should he die at all in giving the real theatre expressions? There is no magic in the movie. It was wanted; not because of any other reason but because of the title of the movie. Lear is a King. A pahtetic and yet a majestic character. The very name, the greatest tragedy, should be able to evoke a sentiment non pareil. That magic is not only missing, but there is no attempt to create that at all !! "Why should a dog, a cat , a rat live ..." etc. that takes the emotion of remorse to crescendo is the high level magic that gives life to this tragedy. If Lear's name is evoked, in the name of the movie and of the hero, then the AB's character should have been take to that height. The movie fails to create any literary sensibility (even with prosaic rendition of the quotes) in the heart and mind of the audience. Alternatively, the producer should have simply called it by some ordinary name like: Theatre ka aadmi Or Death of a stage artist. But the Last Lear ? "Never, Never, Never, Never, Never".