Drona (2008)

Such a frustrating disappointment

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Well I would like to keep it simple and easy. The movie was a blow to AB's career and it is a good thing Shiny Ahuja declined the villain's role. Smart move there mate. The movie revolves around a very 1 dimensional character Adi who is suppressed by his cruel aunt and her son, wow what an original bunch of characters. To top that off the villain is a complete douche bag with terrible acting not to mention the stupid costumes and the stupid names of almost all the characters make you wish you didn't have eyes to see and ears to hear. The soundtrack of the movie and some initial scenes closely resemble Harry Potter and the dementors how can we forget the Indian dementors,To top everything off the most retarded character is then introduced, enter Sonia. Oh wait sorry that character is not the most stupidest I totally forgot about those moronic puppets which are suppose to be scary?The complete ease at how these "dementors" find the hiding place of the supposed guardians of Drona is a concrete evidence that the storyline was thought out while the writer was taking a dump.Rani Jayati as always was good in her acting but wasn't that much of an influence on the movie to save it. What you gonna do when every other character is trying their best to show how bad they can act.Well I wouldn't like to discuss the end of the story but if you would like to see a movie full of idiotic scenes, bad acting, stupid costumes, mind numbing plots do watch this movie and if your day wasn't bad enough this movie will surely destroy it.

I don't know why the makers were so excited about this film. When I saw it, I knew it was going to be a flop. The film is far too unrealistic. Especially the scene in a village called Raazpur. The make-up and costumes of the villagers are horrible. Furher more, the film has like many other Bolywood films not much of a story. This film could work for American public. Hollywood has made more than one of this kind if films. Drona is not for the Indian market. It doesn't have a real love story and it doesn't get into the depth of the characters.Priyanka looked throughout the film like a gypsy. The image suits her but not the film. She doesn't look Indian. She does look Indian at the end of the film where she tells her son Drona's tale. There she wears some nice jewelry and her clothes are also pretty. Abhishek looks very handsome. He looks like a king. That is, in the second half where he already has got his Drona suit. I could watch the film just because he looks so good. His looks in this film are a huge contrast to his outfits in Dhoom 2. In that film he wore the most ugly shirts possible.The background music is very nice. It fits the scenes. But it is western music. This story is supposed to be an Indian myth. It should have had classical Indian music. The kind you hear is series about the Mahabharata. The songs are not bad. Much rock and one of them is jazz. One of them is a lullaby. I don't get the function of that one in the film.The special effects are nice. But not all were required. Where does a sea come from in the middle of the dessert? (The scene where Abhishek goes to search for Priyanka who has been kidnapped) The blue pedals had an effect of Mozes who divided the Red Sea. The underwater scenes when Drona had to win his father's sword were too dark. The fighting scenes were also very dark. You can't clearly see what happens.The acting was nice. Priyanka and Abhishek both did a good job. Kay Kay Menon did his role as a maniac superbly. He really seemed a sick idiotic evil person. He's role seemed a bit like the evil puppet-master of Pinocchio.If you like a film that has much fantasy of the writer, you should definitely see this one.

Aditya (Abhishek Bachchan) lives with his adoptive parents but is only cared for by his father, with his mother and brother treating him as a subordinate. Unbeknown to Aditya, he is actually part of a lineage of male warriors who protect the universe from demons, and each comes to be known as Drona. He discovers his true identity when he is rescued by Sonia (Priyanka Chopra) after he is attacked by forces from the Demon Riz Raizada (Key Key Menon).Drona shares may similarities to other films, such as the humble beginnings of Harry Potter, to Lord of the Rings, though most notably with Prince of Persia. With a few name changes and a title change, anyone could have been fooled into thinking Drona was the film adaption of the popular video game series. Nevertheless Drona is the first Bollywood film deal with the realm of fantasy on such a large scale. Earlier this year the science fiction genre got a first with love Story 2050, but where Love Story faltered in ever way, being only watchable due to the fact that it was a science fiction Bollywood film, Drona actually has some substance going for it. The plot is nothing amazing, and fairly simple. Luckily, it doesn't take Drona to the intermission to get into the fantasy realm, but does so rather soon in the film. Though what Drona lacks in story, it makes up for in mythos. The opening, which is done in a comic form, builds up potential for future films as it appears there is so much left to tell in the world of Drona. Regardless of whether you enjoy the film or not, there is definitely hinted at for potential sequels.The acting side of Drona is not as good as hoped. Jaya Bachchan is underused, and Priyanka Chopra is not entirely up to scratch, though her performance is thankfully better then that from love Story 2050. Abhishek starts off slowly and seems out of sync with his character. He gets better as the film progresses but seems more capable of the silent hero type than the normal everyday person. Whether this is indicative of how well his acting is, is difficult to gather from Drona, but its very possible that his acting skills won't be viewed greatly by the masses even though he definitely has the ability.Though it is Kay Kay Menon who steals the show: his role as the creepy, clownish, and somewhat nervous Riz Raizada is very fun to watch. His character is similar to the likes of Kefka from the popular video game Final Fantasy 6 - he is a villain who seems somewhat maniacal, and Menon plays the part well.Drona's weakest aspects is definitely its special effects and music. Beyond a few scenes, the CG looks either too cartoon like, or just not well textured. There are however a few gorgeous special effects spotted every once and a while, but for a big budget fantasy film like this, everyone once and a while just does not cut it. The music is also disappointing, though thankfully quite unique to the usual Bollywood selection. There are a select few tracks which are listenable, with the rest being on the forgettable side. One such track also happens to occur during one of the most boring parts of the film making it a very slow preliminary to the final arc of the story.No sex, nudity or language, Drona does depict some violent acts with a fairly decent amount of sword fighting involving stabbings. While none of the throat slitting occurs on screen the after effects are shown briefly, and blood does make an appearance.Drona 2 is apparently ready to roll when ever Goldie can get to it., Honestly,he should do a film or two before proceeding with the sequel. The biggest factor in Drona not being as good as it should be is because it is evident that Goldie is still trying to find his feet in the directing world. With some more experience, Drona 2 can shape up to be quite a worthwhile experience. He'll be able to rectify the music selection, special effects and even his own cinematography. It was not everything it was marketed to be, but Drona has created a decent enough mythos for potential sequels. It is not a bad film at all, and a great individual in a flood of clichéd romance offerings.

...because people will be questioning why they had wasted 2+ hours on this snooze-fest. It is the most boring movie to come out this year. Thank God for giving man the brain to invent the fastforward buttons. The film overuses slow-motions to the extent that even in fast forward mode, things move slowly. The action sequences are pathetically executed and the special effects are tacky (to say the least). Goldie Behl is clearly proving to be one of the worst directors. Abhishek Bachchan wears only two expressions: that of looking clueless and that of...well, to quote a friend, think of a child who just had his toy taken away after which his face reddens before throwing a tantrum. Yes, that's the title character. Jaya Bhadhuri looks as though she really dreaded being a part of the movie and only did it for baby Bachchan's (who's trying to look like a man) sake. Priyanka Thopra acts like a zombie. She's supposed to be this action heroine who wears no expression and does the occasional item-number type dance. The only reason why I bothered with 'Drona' was because of Kay Kay Menon who's one of my favourite actors. I did enjoy his over the top villain act but the character is too much of a caricature. But I'm still thankful for the fast forward button and if the slow motions were reduced to normal speed, the movie would have finished in a good 30-45 minutes...and it would still be boring as I have experienced. Plus, the songs deserve to be fast-forwarded too. The ridiculous ending promises a sequel but I hope the film bombs badly enough to avoid any further torture.