We've never felt  this  before.    There's a fabulous never-experienced   feel to this  fantasia.As though  it was long –awaited  . But it  took  so long to make  its appearance    in our cinema  because no  one thought of it, or wanted  to.

Goldie Behl dares  to dream. He's   back after a  7-year hiatus  to let us know   that Bas Itna Sa  Khwab  Hai was  not where  his khwab  ended. As  matter of fact  the dream begins now.

Drona  is    a feeling  not  quite overpowering but purposely underplayed and designed  to bring the  till-now-barred –in-Bollywood  Lord Of  The Rings genre  to our table.

On  the  storyboard Drona  must have  sounded  incredibly  impossibly  outrageously  ambitious. It's a film  that  starts  in the US,  moves  to the deserts  of Rajsathan and   makes  an exit run into  a never-never land where blue flower-petals  shower down  on  the screen creating an area of enchantment and incandescence  without  letting the spectacle  dominate  the characters.

 As   far as  super-heroes  go,  the  one that Abhishek  plays  in  Drona  is  somewhat   unique. Seething scowling wounded and  wanting, Abhishek plays a knight  in a  shining  'amour'…a romantic  at heart  and  a warrior  only by  force, he  glides across  the screen doing some  of  the most gently persuasive old-world stunts  conceived  on this  side  Lord Of  The Rings. The action  often  involves the  leading lady. And  Priyanka  is  dynamite.

Goldie Behl with unaccentuated but  relentlessly persuasive   support from cinematographer  Samir Arya builds a visual  mindscape manifested  in moving pictures  that  suggest a deep bond between the  imagination and  our  traditional cultural  representations  of   abstract art, from desert-based  monuments   to  esoteric weapons that  swirl across  the  breeze  and kill only  the  evil.

First ten minutes into this voyage   to the realm of our Chandmama-Chandrakanta genre  of  fantasy literature,  and  we're hooked. From  the point when Priyanka,  styled  like our first full-blown Lara Croft and dressed and madeup to kill(in more ways than  'won') enters  the  frame  the  film  takes  off with  an emphatic  élan that just stops short  of selfcongratulation.

Equally  arresting  is  the  sequence  where  our desi dude-ka-dude superhero  Drona meets  the arch-villain Riz for the first time.  The  chaos  that breaks out and  the ensuing chase across  the  narrow cobbled streets  of  an unknown  foreign   country(Prague?)  are  handled with  a  delightful  eye for comicbook bravura  that  never careens  into  the caricatural.

All through the telling  of  this tall and stately tale, Behl  displays a restrain  that goes a long way   in  giving   the  product  the feel of  a fantasy well-conceived but never over-drawn.

The technique carries  the characters  fearlessly and   fluently.  Besides Samir Arya's  cinematography  which   lends the colours of  the imagination a hue of  the  home-grown, the  art  direction  and  the sound design suggest    paces of   a grace long-forgotten  in  our cinema  where now,  rapidfire   storytelling  is  almost always  equated  with an entertaining cinema.Here  the frames are  designed  to create a harmony between the protagonist's wandering soul , and Nature which   looks down  impartially at a world gone  to  the  dogs.

The  dramatic  conflict  converges  on  Abhishek  and  KayKay Menon.  The  one silent calm  from outside and torn and troubled from  within. The other ultra-flamboyant  and theatrical, doing what can be  called a reincarnation  of  Mogambo from Mr India   an indigenous  version  of Jack Nicholson's Joker  from Batman .

The  thetarics that  underscore  the  narrative's   calm surface don't  always work. KayKay's character  goes way over-the-top into  an atmosphere of irredeemable   grotesquerie. Fine actor that he  is, KayKay  gives the flamboyant villainy his best shot.

Abhishek displays  a  wounded pride and a lacerated  soul  through his  eyes. He is also  immensely  adept at handling  the  action   scenes and  goes  many steps  ahead  from his  earlier  films to  under-perform  the scenes  with  heartwarming  sincerity.

Priyanka  Chopra's styling and   body language suggest  a smouldering restless  sensuality  . But  the  drama  converges  on  the   hero and  the villain as they battle it out by the most traditional definition of  cinematic  dada-giri.

By the  time we approach the climax  Drona has established its claim at  taking a confident stab at  a genre never  done before. What it fails to do is to  take that genre into  the  highest realm of creativity where  the  characters would have instinctively become  children rather than  casualties   of the mythology and fantasy  that Goldie Behl embraces with ample affection  but not  enough  of that  quality  of connectivity with the audience that  superheroes  have always  achieved with the audience.

At the end you feel an empathy  for the sword-wielding Drona  who can't fly  through the air.

And  that's what  makes this  super-hero so vulnerable  and  human.

Watch  Drona for Abhishek's  reined-in  performance as a reluctant hero, and   his crackling hissing but  ambivalent chemistry  with Priyanka.  And  for  the  use of special-effects not to  overpower but nourish  the  plot  that strides across two continents and cultures with confident  steps. 

 RATING: 3/5