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By Joginder Tuteja, December 20, 2008 - 14:14 IST
MOVIE DETAILS
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Kay Kay Menon, Jaya Bachchan
Director: Goldie Behl
Producer: Shrishti Behl, Sunil Lulla
Music: Dhruv Ghanekar
Lyrics: Vaibhav Modi
THE FILM
It is difficult to begin writing about Drona. Of course, I knew that the film stands as one of the biggest Bollywood box office disasters of all times. Also, it wasn't generally liked by the 'aam aadmi' as well as media alike. All these reasons were strong enough for me to not venture into a theater (though it ran for only 3 weeks is a different story altogether) but then more often than not, there is always something redeeming about a film when seen on home video. Something actually ends up standing out to qualify as a 'paisa vasool' moment when it comes to relatively lesser expense incurred on buying a DVD for a family watch.
Alas, even that doesn't happen on Drona. Reason? The very USP of the film, its special effects and sheer magnificence of frames (Drona boasts of quite a few here) are the ones that deserved a big screen theater experience. Well, it's an insult if watched on small screen because the film has been made for theatrical experience. In this regard, the DVD viewing doesn't help. That's strike one for Drona. However, when it comes to ultimately settling down to the home viewing, what turns out to be an absolute downer is the basic narrative of the film that makes you go to sleep mid-way into the film.
Seriously, what were the producers/investors thinking when they backed this project? And that's not the question that I am asking! That's a question that my better half asked me an hour into the film. As 'a stupid common 'wo'-man', the way Mr. Naseeruddin Shah from A Wednesday would have liked to call her, she was flabbergasted by the sheer extravagance that had gone into making Drona when the story in itself was visibly going nowhere.
Her follow up question was - 'Don't 'Mr. Money Bags' look at least for the basic storyline, let alone the script, when they assign crores into the making of a film? Are they just happy to have big names in their film's cast? Are they just plain ecstatic with the belief that 'Hey look, we too have a superhero film coming up'? Are they just doing it in order to make a biggie addition to their movie catalogue in order to keep the shareholders happy? (Ok, I added up this question myself!)
Frankly, Drona turns out to be such a mumbo-jumbo and though it does hold you reasonably OK till the interval point, it completely goes haywire after the first half. While it is fascinating to see different worlds coming together as Abhishek gets 'Drona-fied' by Priyanka and her semi-firang company, the sheer extravagance and magnificence of each and every frame of the film makes you look wide eyed at the screen. However, this entire 'let's frame it like never before' indulgence is what brings the narrative of Drona to a grinding halt. The film starts loosing direction and in the end you don't really follow the proceedings on screen.
The journey of 'Raazpur' (it could have been interesting but it is not), the finding of 'safed ghoda', Priyanka's kidnapping from the desert, fight sequences which follow - it's all just linked in such an abstract manner that one starts wondering that whether special effects are driving the story or elements of story elements have just been filled in to justify the usage of special effects. Also, the length of a scene is more often than not longer than required for most of the narrative in the last 30 minutes and while you pray for the shift in proceedings, that doesn't quite happen. Aakhir kya karen, VFX waale bhi to apna kaam karna chahte hain! And they won't relent till each of their super-brains out there has got his/her brush of art made visible in this multi crore expense called Drona.
In the film's end, there is a clear message of the film's sequel in the offering. I am sure that with the fate of Drona and the lessons learnt ever since its release, even the makers would agree that even thinking about doing anything like that would be akin to living in a fantasy world!
PACKAGING
The film comes in an impressive cardboard/ plastic case.
DURATION
The film comes in a single DVD pack with the duration being 145 minutes.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Audio release
- Making of Drona
- Drona Premier
You know what's the best part about the film's DVD? A segment that has been dedicated to the 'Drona Premiere'. This extended segment sees coming together of practically entire industry in support of the film and watching them is akin to being a part of a high profile party itself. Bachchans, Shah Rukh Khan, Farah Khan, Karan Johar, Yash Chopra, Sajid Khan, Arjun Rampal, Farhan Akhtar, Harman Baweja and dozens and dozens of other celebrities give sound bytes about the film. However, what is really funny is to observe the change in tone before and after the premiere. Watch it to believe it!
There is a segment of 'Making of Drona' but just as it happens in case of any movie, the enjoyment you get on seeing the making of a film is as good or bad as the film itself. If a film is good, you go wow with the behind-the-scenes proceedings. And when the film is bad, you end up exclaiming - 'Was it worth it'? It's the latter which happens in case of Drona which sees a decently made 'making' for a bad movie!
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
- Subtitles in English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo 2.0
- Mastered from High Definition (HD)
PRICE
Rs. 299/=
CONCLUSION
Going for the DVD of Drona is paradoxical. You can't be watching it on DVD since it comes with a big screen tag. You can't be watching it on big screen or compromise when it comes to TV viewing because it is a badly made film. In either of the cases, it comes with a headline screaming loud - AVOID!
  
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