Starring:
Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Kay Kay Menon, Jaya Bachchan

Synopsis:
Drona is a superhero/fantasy movie directed by Goldie Behl. The plot revolves around Aditya/Drona (Abhishek Bachchan), an orphan who discovers that he is an integral part of an age-old battle between good and evil.

Review:
Drona has been publicly touted as ‘Indiana Jones meets Harry Potter’, but with an original story. The filmmakers must have really believed in this movie, because in truth, Drona doesn’t hold a candle to the aforementioned Hollywood productions (yes, even Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.)

The plot revolves around the presence of Amrith, holy nectar that guarantees immortality to anyone who drinks it. This nectar has been the object of desire for many a demon, and the only person who stands in their way is Drona, an individual blessed with superhuman abilities and sacred knowledge passed down from generation to generation. With a story as far-fetched as this, it is very important to keep the characters as grounded as possible, and prevent them from being caricatures of themselves. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens in here, and the movie suffers for it.

If I were to sum up this movie in one word, I would call it lazy. Lazy because despite a huge budget, the script is very weak, the acting is mediocre and the special effects are shoddy. Most of the bad points can be attributed to a poor script. The characters are far too one-dimensional, and the plot is black-and-white, contrived and has too many plot holes. For example, the scene where Aditya meets the villain Riz Raizada for the first time is never explained, and seems completely random. It is never a good sign when a viewer is taken out of the movie because of a script error, and this happened too many times for my liking. There is far too much spiritual mumbo-jumbo, and the dialogue is laughably bad.

As I mentioned earlier, the acting, with perhaps the exception of Priyanka Chopra, is strictly mediocre. Abhishek Bachchan is an excellent actor, but it is clear that he is not suitable as an all out action hero. Apart from the fact that he has only one expression through the whole movie - the intense, brooding stare - it is obvious that he is not in the right physical shape for the role. How many out-of-shape superheroes do you know?

The best part of this movie would have to be Priyanka Chopra who, along with looking gorgeous, is the only person who seems to know how to handle herself in a fight. This is ironic considering she is nothing more than a sidekick. The action is decent, not counting sequences enhanced with special effects, which still remain far too obvious to be taken seriously.

It pains me to trash this film so, but the truth remains that this is simply not a very good movie. It is certainly very ambitious, and props to the filmmakers for attempting to make something fresh and new, but one does wish they had spent a little more effort on the final product. The fantasy genre is one that is grossly under-represented in Indian cinema, and it is easy to see why based on this movie. However, I would still like to encourage more filmmakers to delve into the fantasy genre - just not like this.
 
Rating: 1.5/5

Photo Courtesy: BollywoodBlog

Related Articles:

• Delhi 6: The Movie That Could Have Been