Dhrona-the indian superhero

i have hardly watched any indian films the last few years, and for good reason. there are just too many of them, and only a handful that are alledgedly any good. so i avoid them completely. however, when i'm visiting friends, i manage to watch a few, and reassure myself that i haven't been missing much.

last week it was dhrona. there were certainly a few aspects of the movie that i enjoyed. abhishek bachan, whom i like, played the title role of dhron-a superhero. there were some impressive graphics, animation and effects. however, i soon realized that all that fancy schmanzy stuff was in there just to show off what the filmmakers were capable of doing. i know i should be talking about the good things about the movie first, but now that i think of it, there really wasn't much.

the story sounded pretty good in the beginning. soon i realized that the entire movie, story and effects together, was a mash up of harry potter, the mummy, and the lord of the rings. if you've seen any of the three you'll immediately notice all the blatant references-faceless beings in black hooded robes, sandstorms that have monstrous faces, dhrona living with foster parents-his true identity hidden from him throughout his childhood, an old man with snow-white hair and beard dressed in a white robe and with a staff, and so on.

i mean, the filmmakers obviously have the capabilities-the animated stuff is proof, but why put all that to waste on an unoriginal story.

and here's a spoiler (because there's nothing original, anyway.) this guy is supposed to be a superhero, the chosen one. but apart from herculean strength, he doesn't really have anything else going for him. and even that is only when he wears a particular outfit.

the major drawback of the film (if you are still interested in watching it) is that dhrona doesn't really overcome any obstacles by himself. there's nothing that he figures out for himself. he is told what he needs to do at every turn, and he simply does them. and he always has help. it just seems too easy. to put it in very plain terms, there aren't any "oh shit, how is he going to overcome this?" moments. and if there were, i missed them when i dozed off (three times, i think.)

dhrona is a film that aspires to be visually appealing-and it achieves that to a certain extent. however, in doing so, it comes off as a showcase of the filmmaker's animation skills, and nothing more. so if you want to see how far indian animation has come, go ahead. but if you're expecting anything more, (now that i have ruined it for you) you're better off watching something else. or reading a fairy tale.