+ + + + =


Oh how nice it is to count on the negative reviews of Indian movie critics. Indian movie critics just don't like anything different than their usual masala Bollywood lovey-dovey shmaltz. I have no understanding why they have no interest at all in bizarre, wierd, and/or fantasy/sci-fi flicks. This is what DRONA is - it's one of the best directed/edited Bollywood films to date, it's wierd, it's bizarre, it's action-packed with great choreography, it's got the hottest Bollywood actress, Priyanka Chopra, kicking ass, and it's got the charm of a fresh 1980s fantasy flick a la Highlander, Conan, or Excalibur without forcing it into awkward badness (Scorpion King 2 or Uwe Boll films).

DRONA is currently one of the most expensive Bollywood films and you can tell - the special effects, as well as the production, in this film are top-notch. Not an original story, we've seen it all before, but this time it's based around Indian mythology, and Drona is a superhero that doesn't quite know his powers yet. He goes on a journey to discover he's "the one" (Neo) and has to stop evil in the process.

The positives in the film:
- excellent creative directing/editing (the previous movie I saw was the awfully filmed new James Bond film, which makes this Drona movie seem so much better than it probably is)
- the musical score was not the usual Bollywood-type music
- exciting car chase
- exciting Sikh martial arts, choreographed by the dude who worked on Troy, The Last Legion, The Dark Knight, Stardust, and the Golden Compass
- amazing, crazy set designs
- just two locations - Prague and a desert
- good acting
- a nice pace (critics call it boring, I call it "not being filmed" like an MTV quick-cut James Bond film)

I see this movie as the equivalent of Japan's CASSHERN. I think that DRONA is the better film, but I see them as similar-type films, where they were overhyped, huge expensive epic flicks, but disappointing. I can understand why people would be disappointed, but I'm totally not disappointed by DRONA though. It's a great fantasy B-movie. What do people expect from this genre? I thought that Stardust was a piece of crap, but for some reasons critics loved it. That's the thing with fantasy films - you can't fault them for not being Oscar material....If you like fantasy films of the 1980s, then I highly recommend DRONA.


The EROS NTSC REGION FREE DVD is of pretty decent quality. The anamorphic video is very good, considering Eros' poor quality past, and the DD 5.1 Hindi is awesome. The English subtitles are pretty good as well, not too many mistakes. For extras, there is a bunch of making of film clips running around a half hour total, and some trailers...

FILM: 7.5
DVD VIDEO: 8
DVD AUDIO: 9
EXTRAS: 6


You can see the trailer here (the movie is a lot better than the trailer): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHLIM4XYxe0
You can buy the DVD here: http://store.nehaflix.com/drona-dvd.html

Are you serious? May be you are!

yup i'm serious!

Good! Now I am serious too!

Me wanna see Blu Ray. BD chahie.

toddly can GET an INTERNATIONAL LEVEL BR transferred only for DEMANDING FOR HIGH QUALITY ONLY FOLKS!

BTW, I was browsing through, SFX INTERNATIONAL CALIBER May be it seems like TODDLY and ME are watching 2 different films.

DRONA was a WASH OUT! QS is HIGHEST GROSSER BOND FILM TO DATE, but STILL THE WORST OR ONE OF THE WOST , so do INDY 4.

It seems NEHAFLIX PROMOTING DRONA DVD and WILL SELL BLURAY too, for $35/PIECE

How many Indian CGI/special effects fantasy flicks are there?

1. Drona
2. Krrish
3. Koi Mil Gaya...
4. Rudraksh
5. Anniyan
6. Mr. India
7. 2050 A Love Story
8. Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic

Can anyone name any others?

The most critically-acclaimed one, Koi Mil Gaya..., is the worst one (not as bad as Rudraksh). I don't understand why this movie got such good reviews...

Pay no attention to media reviews. Pretty much all Bollywood movie critics have an agenda and aren't out to accurately rate the films themselves. Instead, they see movies as a means by which to praise/attack the stars who happen to be in or out of favour with the media. For instance, in the case of 'Koi Mil Gaya', critics at the time were trying to get behind Hrithik Roshan as the guy to topple Shah Rukh Khan from the #1 superstar spot so pretty much all of Roshan's films received preferential treatment in their reviews.

Similarly, Abhishek Bachchan is in the media's bad books because of his attained success (due in part to his last name) and has suffered unnecessarily negative reviews as a consequence - particularly with films such as 'Drona' and 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom' which critics feel they can safely pan (regardless of how good/bad they actually are) since they aren't likely to become hits.

But man, Drona is extremely bad, JBJ had at least some good songs and likable LARA!