The quest is the quest.

Despite the hero’s superhuman strength, flashy costume, and great responsibility which springs from his great power, Drona (2008) isn’t exactly a superhero movie. It’s really an epic fantasy, with a hero who leaves his mundane life to go on a great quest through a magical landscape. It’s Neverwhere with Kung Fu, basically, though the film draws inspiration from a wide range of sources.
Aditya (Abhishek Bachchan) is an orphan living in an unnamed city (which is probably Prague), raised by a self-involved and casually abusive aunt and a kindly but weak-willed (and now recently deceased) uncle. His aunt dotes on her own son, and treats Aditya as unpaid labor and universal scapegoat. Aditya does not, however, live in the cupboard under the stairs; he lives in the attic instead.

Life isn’t all bad, however. the other employees in the family store treat Aditya very well, and kindly Sister Anne (Tatana Fischerova) always remembers his birthday, but it’s the occasional visit from a single petal of a blue rose that keeps him going. (There’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.) This year the rose petal leads him to the cabinet in his room, where he discovers an ornate gold bracelet.
While walking down the street, Aditya is given a free ‘golden ticket” to a performance given by famous stage magician Riz Raizada (Kay Kay Menon). What he doesn’t know is that Riz is secretly a demon in human form, searching for the fabled Nectar of Immortality. (Riz is an interesting villain; he looks like the secret love child of Mogambo and Ed Grimley, but he’s the spiritual descendant of another Amrish Puri character, Don Quixote from Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India. Riz is wholeheartedly villainous, and even has his own catchphrase, but he also uses super science to clone himself just so he has someone to discuss his ennui and insecurities with.)

Riz sees the bracelet, and realizes that this is the person he’s been searching for. Before he can do anything, though, Aditya is saved by . . . . the other employees at the family store. And then Sister Anne, who displays unexpected martial arts skills. And then two thugs who were just threatening Aditya’s cousin the night before. And then Sonia (Priyanka Chopra), a mysterious woman with even more impressive martial arts skills, a bright yellow sports car, and a relaxed attitude towards violence.


Aditya wakes up in an underground auto shop. After he discovers a wall covered in pictures of him, Sonia delivers some much needed exposition: Aditya is the next Drona, descended from a long line of warrior kings charged with protecting the Nectar of Immortality. Sonia and Sister Anne and the other workers at the store and even the thugs are all members of a secret society, and have been watching over and protecting Aditya all his life. Before any of this can really sink in, though, Riz’s robed, sword wielding minions burst into the auto shop and start killing people.

Only Sonia and Aditya manage to escape, thanks to her fighting skills and his newly discovered super strength. Before the pair set out on their epic quest, however, Sonia takes Aditya to see his mother, Queen Jayati (Jaya Bachchan), who is not even a little bit dead, for more exposition. Aditya is wary, but not willing to be a jerk about it, and soon mother and son are happily reunited. (Aditya also realizes that the rose petals were sent to him by the spirit of his father, the previous Drona.)

And then Riz appears, turns Queen Jayati to stone, and promises to return her if Aditya will give him the secret of where to find the Nectar. After some desperate meditation, Aditya discovers a grain of rice engraved with a part of the secret, and dutifully hands it over, at which point Riz laughs at his naivety and leaves. The spirits of the previous Dronas appear in the form of a sandstorm and fully empower Aditya, and then the quest begins in earnest.

This is not a deep film, but it’s not just a stupid action movie, either. There’s an honest to goodness theme hidden between the computer enhanced fight scenes. Drona doesn’t succeed because of his amazing powers, and he certainly doesn’t succeed because of his intellect (he’s really not the brightest of sparks,) he succeeds because of the strength of his relationships, because he cares about other people. In addition, Drona echoes a number of literary and mythological sources - at one point Aditya pulls an actual sword from an actual stone - but the movie feels like a cohesive whole, rather than a collection of references. Joseph Campbell would have loved this movie. I liked it a lot.