Review: Drona – Smile toh karo na

Despite rumors that people were selling their tickets for half price at INOX, I still dared to watch Drona. I am a sucker for mythology and that weighs just about everything. Hell, I’d watch even if the great Teeyaar was in a Mahabharata remake. Even if it was as bad as trade pundits claimed, it would still work for me as nothing gets worse than Jimmy. I may sound a bit biased for I have a soft spot for both Jr.AB and Ms.Chopra but then it’s my space and I can write what I want to! The audio had being playing in my car for over a fortnight now and a few of them have being growing on me. All said and done I watched Kidnap and Drona back to back and I probably liked Drona for it was much more bearable than Kidnap. I am not kidding about the smile like I mention in the title of this post. The only time when Jr.AB smiles is in the first dream sequence song but then he isn’t Drona then.

The makers kept maintaining that it wasn’t a superhero movie. Makes no sense to me but I guess they feared comparison to our only so-called-superhero ‘Krrish‘. The battle is half lost when you fear your opponent and that was mistake number one. If someone wishes to argue that Drona wasn’t a superhero movie, then they shall be forced to watch Veerasaamy on a 64inch TV with surround system! Ok I’m not gonna be that stubborn, so I shall condescend and explain. Any one who steps up and fight for justice against someone who is terrorizing(or plans to terrorize) innocent people with his/her treachery is a hero. If superhuman qualities or magic is involved then he/she becomes a superhero. By this definition, The Matrix, Harry Potter, Krrish, Superman, Spiderman etc are all classified as superheros and hence so is Drona. An ingredient that is assumed at  has to be part of every superhero movie is the ‘cuteness factor’. They may lead double lives but the superhero avtaar is at least drool-worthy, sadly in this case Drona looks grumpy. For me, Drona was better than Krrish in almost every department except for the costumes and styling.

They got everything right like dressing up Kay Kay in black and giving him a black stallion where as Drona wore white and rode a white steed. They even paid attention to the royal mark on the horse and it was consistently on the left shoulder of the horse in every scene! Who engages in sword fights wearing a dupatta around your neck? It is possibly the easiest way to strangle someone and a potential weakness, also loose fitting garments and not probably a warriors favorite choice. This was probably the first ever movie I have seen where a savior, superhero sports a thick beard. I’m fine with a stubble, but this was thick enough that it needed to be mowed using a lawn mower. The grisly beard always makes Drona look like he’s sulking and grumpy. Staying with styling I didn’t get Riz Raizada’s look as well. A descendant of the asuras has to be demonic and ought to send shivers down your spine. This asura however sports a stupid so-called-mohawk and talk to puppets. What should have been more chilling than Shaakaal ended up being tamer than Dr.Evil.

The movie has a good plot and the characters are well etched also Drona has nothing to do with the Mahabharata. Asuaras chasing the secrets of the elixir of life is a very interesting concept and can be used to work wonders. However that is where the praises end because the makers forgot an very important ingredient. You may have a very good star cast, some of the best technicians and SFX specialists from Hollywood, also some fantastic songs. However ‘Bhaiyon aur unke Behenon’ there exists a very important thing called screenplay, just like salt in any recipe. The makers faltered and came up with a wafer-thin screenplay and the movie ended up being a mess. Drona has too much rona-dhona and that works against it. What could have been an interesting tussle between some wizardry and a mythical warrior ends up being a damp sword fight and that too way into the climax.

I wonder who Priyanka Chopra’s Babuji was, she repeatedly kept uttering the highly irritating ‘Babuji kehte they’ with such ease. I’m glad the old man was no more, for I would have surely slashed his neck! Some of the songs were totally out of place and the Oop Cha sequence with the groovy-garage-cum-underground-hideout was hideous! The picturization of Teri Bandagi somehow reminded me of this song(telugu), good song but strikingly similar. Nanhe Nanhe is probably one of the best lullaby’s that have been churned out of the mire of Hindi Cinema this year. There are a few sequences that may seem inspired from a few other flicks but then they gel with the story line and hence do make sense. Kay Kay as the antagonist is reduced to a caricature and goes over the top in most scenes. My guess was that the makers wanted to make it more child friendly given the Dushera and Id holidays, and hence the movie comes of being too light and kiddish in a few places. Below are what worked and didn’t work for me.

Sooperbu

• The desert sequence where Dronas ancestors talk to him
• The train sequence where Drona frees his horse Devdutt
• Priyanka Chopras entry scene

Worstu

• Kay Kay’s comical villain character that is spineless
• Too much sentiment, and the tears from a statue
• Lack of any action sequences barring the damp sword fight
• The whole raazpur sequence and the boring fight scene that follows

(Images courtesy: Eros Entertainment)

PS: I know it’s a week late but then I didn’t wanna do two back to back movie reviews. This was on public demand! Love you all…