Mohenjo Daro

Ashutosh Gowariker has again come up with an interesting theme, but too bad, the execution falls through.

Sarman (Roshan) is an inquisitive farmer-cum-merchant who travels to the city of Mohenjo Daro to sell his yields against the wishes of his well-wishers. He is an outspoken and courageous fellow who enters the city, sells his first batch, and immediately falls in love with Chaani (Hegde), a princess of some kind who is widely known in the city to be a ray of hope for the citizens. Chaani reciprocates and Sarman pledges his alliance of love. However, Chaani's hand in marriage has already been given to Moonja (Singh), heir of the crown which is currently held by the dark-eyed, evil Maham (Bedi). Soon Sarman gets embroiled in the city's merchant market and becomes the voice of the poor against Maham and Moonja, the evidently autocratic rulers. His love for Chaani gives him power and helps him avenge a hidden truth and save the entire civilization from an inevitable flood.

The story is clichéd, no doubt about it. But, even the arcs that take the running time to about 150 minutes, are muddled with clichés and usualness. What an average viewer would expect from a theme like this is some novel insights into how the civilization worked, its market, its people, its culture. But, all we see is mockery of the civilization; introducing a unicorn and basing your cultural dance on it is not the way to go for a historical film. I personally do not know much about the city other than what my grade X history books taught me, but I was expecting something else - not 21st century AD in the disguise of 21st century BC.

The reason I rate this a 5 is because of the action sequences, the production setup, and an average execution. It's very clear that the writers did less-to-no research for this film, or they purposely tried to mix fictional romance into a topic held sacred by so many. Otherwise, it would have been a much interesting watch.

Roshan and Bedi perform well among the cast. Hegde should take more acting lessons. Music is not exhilarating and neither is the CGI. That's it; not much to talk about.

BOTTOM LINE: Ashutosh Gowariker's Mohenjo Daro is a disappointment; but we were warned, weren't we? Wait for TV premiere.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

Historical drama is not Bollywood's forte and it has never been treated seriously. Making a captivating historical drama, despite being fully factually correct, requires a great deal of unlearning and relearning, which Ashutosh Gowariker could not dare to do much for 'Mohenjo Daro'.

Making a film on 5000 years old Indus Valley Civilization, with scantly available research data, is a herculean task and it requires great labor and vision to make a compelling story out of it. Gowariker tried its best to deliver in every aspect of the film, but, unfortunately, he could not create a story as big as its characters and setting. He also did not shy away from falling in the trap of traditional Bollywood winning formulas i.e. run-of-the-mill romance.

The film is not a failure but the disappointments are too colossal to handle, especially when these come from the maker of films as great as 'Lagaan' and 'Swades'.

Hirithik Roshan, however, shines in 'Mohenjo Daro'. He has given one of the memorable performances of his entire career and has single-handily saved the ship from sinking. On the other hand Poja Hedge, the pretty girl with cute smiles, does not have much to deliver. Kabir Bedy, a very big name, could have done better if his character was not written in haste or without giving it shades and depth.

The background score of the movie, done by maestro A. R. Rehman, is breathtaking and epic in all senses. But the songs are ridiculously too modern to believe these could have been popular in 2016 BC.

The language is hard to understand fully, especially by Urdu speakers, but it sounds very powerful and great. Sindhu Ma (Indus river) takes center stage in the story and a huge thumbs-up for that, as this was one most satisfying experience in the whole film especially for the history lovers.

'Mohenjo Daro' is the first of its kind effort of making a film of this scale on the mysterious and very less known part of the human history. Either it succeeds or fails in impressing the audiences, it will be remembered as an effort of taking the road less traveled and telling less known stories.

If you had to recreate an ancient civilisation, what would you do? If you are Ashutosh Gowariker, and have had lots of experience in excavating the past (Lagaan, Jodhaa Akbar), you would scale it up. Instead of a few hundred years, you would go back a couple of thousands, ditching the merely old for the seriously antique.

Mohenjo Daro, set in Mohenjo-daro of the Indus Valley civilisation, is bigger but certainly not better than these two Gowariker's earlier outings. The sepia tone of the earth and the dwellings is balanced by an array of costumery: everyone looks like they have been handed out unstructured earth-toned garments, which follow the latest fashion du jour. And lest you thought they were not accessorised to the hilt in 2016 BC, perish it: the villainous chief wears a headgear of horns (the happily hamming Kabir Bedi, who carries it off with a raffish air) to an alarmingly tall crown of what looks like feathers, coins and shells sported by the leading lady (the debutant Pooja Hegde, who looks much better without, and may fare better in her next).In between is leading man Hrithik Roshan as poor indigo farmer Sarman, a resident of village Samri of the Sindh province, who has set his heart on going to neighbouring big town Mohenjo-daro. That is where, he is convinced, lie his fate and fortune, and an animal with one horn.Right from the build-up, featuring what is meant to be a thrilling boat ride and a fight with a fake-looking crocodile, all the better to show off Hrithik's rippling chest and ripping valour, Mohenjo Daro is a plod, and a heavily borrowed one to boot: the entry into a forbidden town (which strongly reminds us of Baahubali), the romance with a pretty stranger, the rivalry with a muscle-bound fellow, the unravelling of dark secrets, the saving of a town from a beastly ruler—we've seen so many versions of it before.It beats me how so much time and effort can be spent on creating something meant to be jaw-dropping, but which leaves you sighing at the sheer waste of it all. Just when you think the plot is shifting just a fraction, out pops yet another item number, complete with whirling dervishes (remember Jodhaa Akbar?) and belly dancers: how can you have a Hrithik film without getting him on the floor, even if it is daubed in mud?In Lagaan, there were the evil Brits who wanted more tax from the poor 'gaon-waalon'. In Mohenjo Daro too, along comes the demand for more 'kar-vasooli'. Gowariker also filches from the many Hollywood epics which dump their heroes into an arena and have them fight for their lives: Hrithik faces off with two iron-chested cannibals (Bedi terms them, helpfully, 'narbhakshi') who grunt and growl.

And just in case we were missing something, Sarman does a Noah, launches a massive rescue op, and saves scores of humans and animals, to swelling background music. By then, we're so exhausted that we let the waters of Sindhu Ma float over us, and wait for things to get over.

Tried to make an interesting story around the historic city, but failed to make any interesting impact. By picking usual things from great movies, it frames just to be a standard average movie. Hrithik again impresses with his amazing body language and acting skills. These type of roles looks perfect on him. Ashutosh Gowariker didn't work too hard for this. Hence, the result shows nothing but a good cinematography.

Storyline Rating: 2 Content: 2 Commercialization: 4 Entertainment: 2

Acting Rating: 3 Hrithik Roshan: 4 Pooja Hegde: 2 Kabir Bedi: 2 Arunoday Singh: 3 Piyush Mishra: 3

Direction Rating: 2

Music Rating: 2

Cinematography: 4

Editing: 2

Ashutosh Gowarikar is a genius and you just cannot complain much about the direction. The sets and cinematography are top-notch which has made it a visual treat. The action sequences are very well executed. About the music, Mohenjo Mohenjo and Tu Hai songs create magic on screens. The background score is sheer brilliance and gives you goosebumps. About the performance, Hrithik Roshan undoubtedly has delivered one of his career best performance. He nails the character head on and proves that only he could have played such character. His transformation from a small former to a lover and then to a fighter is legendary.Pooja Hedge makes a good debut. You will fall for her innocence and grace at the same time. She makes a good pair with Hrithik Roshan too. But we wished to see her more in the film. The supporting cast is OK. As a whole, it's a brilliant movie. Go watch it.