Drona (2008 film)
| Drona | |
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 Movie poster for Drona |
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| Directed by | Goldie Behl |
| Produced by | Shrishti Arya Sunil Lulla Amitabh Bachan |
| Written by | Goldie Behl Jaydeep Sarkar |
| Starring | Abhishek Bachchan Priyanka Chopra Kay Kay Menon Jaya Bachchan |
| Music by | Dhruv Ghanekar |
| Cinematography | Sameer Arya |
| Editing by | Shyam K. Salgonkar |
| Distributed by | Eros Entertainment Rose Movies |
| Release date(s) |
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| Language | Hindi |
| Budget |  150 crore (US$26 million) |
| Box office | 10 crore (US$1.7 million)[1] |
Drona is a 2008 Bollywood Fantasy Adventure superhero film directed by Goldie Behl, starring Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Kay Kay Menon and Jaya Bachchan. Drona's special effects shots were worked on by EyeQube[2] headed by Charles Darby and David Bush. The movie features Indian martial arts such as: Kalaripayat, Chhau, Gatka, and sword fighting.[3] It was filmed in Prague, Bikaner, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Namibia. The film's trailer was attached to Vipul Shah's Singh is Kinng (2008) and Raghav Khattar 's Marathi Film vishavnath (2008).
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Premise[edit]
Rooted in the vibrant tapestry of Indian storytelling, Drona (Abhishek Bachchan) is the compelling modern tale of one man's spectacular voyage through the labyrinths of mystic myths and legendary legacies. Of a journey that will force him to face his fears and make him the hero he was born to become.
From the times, when time itself was a newborn baby, the universe has kept one secret carefully camouflaged within its folds. A secret, which if unraveled, could unlock the destruction of mankind and the entire cosmos.
Today, only one man can protect the universe's precious secret and thus, save the human race from absolute annihilation. And that man is Drona with the help of Sonia (Priyanka Chopra), his sidekick.
Plot[edit]
Far away in a distant town, there was once a young man named Aditya, Brought up by a foster family, Adita was unaware of his real identity and the destiny that awaited him. Ever since he was a child, a recurring nightmare haunted him. And when he woke up in fright, there was no one he could ever hold on to except for a magical BlueCross petal that came wafting in the wind, never failing to make him smile through his tears. Somewhere far from here, an evil sorcerer, Riz Raizada, a descendant of the asuras (legendary demons) had become dangerously impatient, in his thirst for the precious secret. The secret, which was the missing link, in this grand plan of taking over the universe. To get to the secret, he'd have to defeat the Drona. And herein, lay his problem. He didn't know who or where the Drona was! One sudden day Aditya and Riz came face to face and Riz immediately recognized him as the Drona. Aditya's destiny had caught up with him and his life was about to take him on a journey he had never imagined. Aditya couldn't comprehend why Riz's men were hunting him down. Just when he was about to be captured, a cult that believed that The Drona was their Messiah came to his rescue. Sonia, the leader of the cult, revealed Aditya's real identify to him. Baffled, Aditya found it all too hard to believe. Having no time to lose, Sonia decided to take Aditya back to his place of birth, the ancient kingdom of Pratapgarh where his mother, Queen Jayanti Devi would have all the answers to his questions. But before he could embrace his mother, Riz and his army of the darkest powers caught up with him. Aditya would now have to rise to the occasion and embrace his destiny. For the sake of mankind he would have to become the legendary warrior he was born to be. Drona. Thus began Drona's journey through myths and legends. Along with Sonia, he would fight the evil spells of the absolutely lethal Riz Raizada. By battling odds, he would discover skills that he never knew he had. But would his fears catch up with him? Would the nightmares from his childhood come in the way of his epic journey? As good and evil clash in this contemporary fantasy fable, a breathtaking adventure beckons you into a world of mythic heroes and malicious magicians, of enchanted lands and life altering choices, of cunning curses and absolute innocence. The magnificent world of Drona
Cast[edit]
- Abhishek Bachchan as Aditya/Drona
- Priyanka Chopra as Sonia
- Kay Kay Menon as Riz Raizada
- Jaya Bachchan as Queen Jayanti
- Ali Haji as Young Drona
Crew[edit]
- Distributor: Eros International
- Production House: Rose Movies
- Director: Goldie Behl
- Screenplay: Goldie Behl, Jaydeep Sarkar
- Cinematography: Sameer Arya
- Director Action: Tom Delmar
- Editing: Shyam K. Salgonkar
- Music Director: Dhruv Ghanekar
- Costume Design: Anaita Shroff
- Special Effects Design: David Bush
- Digital Intermediate Supervision===: Steve Shaw - Digital Praxis
- The Making Of Drona: Nazar Abbas Fahrenheit Films
Special effects[edit]
The producers have spent over US $2 million on special effects of the film which was put in place by a team of 60 VFX experts in approximately 6 months.
Drona’s glossy visual effects are a result of a joint venture between the visual effects wizards from both India and Hollywood. The special effects were achieved by taking different plates which had been shot separately. Some are shot on the green screen and some on live action plates. Then all of the plates were composited together to give the effect.
Bollywood's first magical adventure fantasy comes with a hefty budget of around Rupees 135 crore and the distributors are praying that it will spin some magic at the box office as well. Sword-based martial arts like Kalaripayat and Chhau will be featured in the film along with the Sikh martial arts Gatka.
Eros-controlled EyeQube Studios has roped in 250 visual effects artists including animators, designers, matte painters and developers, for the flick.
The dismal fate of Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra starrer Love Story 2050 has triggered a debate amongst the movie lovers as to whether the Indian audience is all set for films based totally on SFX.
Costumes[edit]
The costume for this film is unique, inspired by the traditional Indian bridegroom and medieval warriors wear. "The idea for Abhishek's costume in the film came from the Indian groom who wears a sherwani, an achkan and a churidar. We have kept a very vintage look for him that also gives a slightly 3-D impression of the superhero with an earthy appeal to it," said Anaita Shroff Adajania, who has designed the outfits for Drona along with Gaurav Gupta.
Directed by Goldie Behl and slated to release October 2, Drona narrates the story of Aditya (Abhishek), a descendant of a royal family who realises the purpose of his existence and how he lives up to it.
Aditya, who is also called Drona, fights with powerful magician Ritz, played by Kay Kay Menon, in order to save the world from his evil intentions.
Elaborating on Abhishek's attire, the designer said: "He sports a linen coat with metal embroidery to give the look of his armour, a long crushed stole to symbolise power, a bracelet and a jewel on his forehead as a headgear.
"In fact, the headgear is inspired from the one Rajasthani women wear on their head. We have also used panels of the same fabric to give his coat much more dimension," Anaita told IANS over phone from Mumbai.
After dressing a host of celebrities like Saif Ali Khan in Being Cyrus and Abhishek, Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai in Dhoom 2, Anaita experiments with the actor's looks and various fabrics in Drona.
Priyanka Chopra plays Abhishek's bodyguard and her costume, though distinct, has similarities to Anaita's work in Dhoom 2.
The actress is seen sporting tight black pants under a leather detail as a part of her costume, which is similar to what Aishwarya wore in the 2006 hit.
"Priyanka's costume in the film constitutes an angarakha, slightly cut into a tiny waistcoat, with a brocade coat. She also wears boots with red heels to show the feminine side. As the film progresses, the colours of her costume keep changing, keeping the fieriness of her character in mind," she explained.
"In order to give her mobility and to portray her softness and energy, the fabric used for her is a contrast of chiffon, georgette and leather. She also sports a leather band tied across her head with matching armbands and a ring," added Anaita, who is also the fashion director for fashion and lifestyle magazine Vogue India.
The style expert claims that Kay Kay's character in the film will make audiences "uncomfortable" because of his appearance.
"Kay Kay's character is the most quirky of the lot. We have blended a Shakespearean feel with a strong reptilian texture to it. He wears a cape that gives the impression of a lizard or a crocodile," she said.
"His wicked mohawk hairstyle plays an important role in defining anti-gravity so we have spiked it up. Even the pointy metal ring that he wears adds to the uncomfortable feel. He also sports light coloured contact lenses. We have done everything to make him look slightly supernatural," Anaita said.
But styling the characters wasn't an easy job and she had to do a lot of research.
"We spent a lot of time in our research for the characters, as everything that had to be created was custom made. While Abhishek's organic look has influences drawn from the medieval warriors, Japanese comics and Roman soldiers; Kay Kay's look has got a very strong Japanese comic book influence.
"On the other hand, Priyanka's look is a criss-cross of contemporary international fashion and Indian myth. Her headgear was crafted from the turban influence of the sikhs," she revealed.
The research really paid off and work was done much faster.
"We were very clear on the drawing board with whatever we were doing. I wanted to have a certain routine of dresses around the characters as their roles are defined," she said.
Anaita's other projects include Priyadarshan's ShahRukh Khan starrer Billo Barber and Imtiaz Ali's untitled project that has Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone.
Reception[edit]
Critics' response to the movie was negative. Most critics blamed the weak storyline and bad performances by lead actors.[4] However, Chopra's performance was said to be earnest.[5]
The movie had poor opening but fell short by the coming days. however the huge budget of the movie could not be covered at the box office. The film was declared a disaster by Box Office India.[1]
Sequel[edit]
Despite the film being critically and commercially unsuccessful a sequel is currently in production titled as Drona 2 and will soon be released. Going by the positive response of Shahrukh Khan and his son Aryan, Goldie Behl has decided to make Drona 2 and what’s more the director of the super-dud fantasy film has completed major portions of the script too!
Sources close to the director revealed that the casting process will begin soon. Unfortunately Abhishek wont be a part of the sequel “At the end of the movie Drona’s son, played by producer Shristhi Arya’s son Veer, is being shown tailed by the same supernatural powers as his father. The sequel, it is understood, will launch a new young actor as Abhishek’s son and will carry the adventures of Drona into a new realm.” says Abhishek, clearly steering himself away from the project.
Interestingly the director before the release had said “There will be a sequel to Drona. And Abhishek will be starring in this one as well.”
Moving on, Goldie has decided to dedicate the sequel to SRK’s son and his very own son Ranvir “When I’ve attempted something original, why shouldn’t I carry the story forward? Shah Rukh loved the film. He told me his son loved the film. My three-year-old son Ranvir saw the first film of his life at the premiere of Drona. And he couldn’t take his eyes off the screen.”
References[edit]
- ^ a b Boxofficeindia.com Trade Network. "All India 2008". Box Office India. Retrieved 2011-04-09.
- ^ Screen Weekly News Network (2008-09-22). "Unleashing visual effects in Drona". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 2011-04-09.
- ^ Bamzai, Kaveree (2008-02-14). "Drona shows a number of Indian martial arts". India Today. Retrieved 2011-04-09.
- ^ Adarsh, Taran (2008-10-02). "Drona: Movie Review". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 2011-04-09.
- ^ Masand, Rajeev (2008-10-04). "Drona, too much rona-dhona". CNN-IBN. Retrieved 2011-04-09.
