Ashutosh Gowarikar has presented History is a fascinating way in Lagaan or Jodha Akbar. I remember when I watched Lagaan back in 2001 I was hooked to the seat until the last scene and Jodha Akbaar had all the ingredients to become a classic historical drama. Hritik ,as Akbar, with his sheer personality has drawn us to him and we were also enthralled by Aishwarya’s classy depiction as Jodha.
Above all, it was Swades, which I believe Ashutosh Gowarikar’s finest work till date. The movie perfectly evokes the love for your country when the immediate feelings of 'belonging' to a community made SRK to left his lavish job and he returned to India at the end of the film.
Therefore, after all these beautiful cinematic experiences, it would definitely make you excited when hear about another historic drama by Ashutosh Gowarikar with Hrithik Roshan in lead. However Mohenjo Daro, set in the Indus Valley civilisation, is bigger but certainly not better than Gowariker’s earlier outings.
Story :
Sarman is an indigo farmer’s nephew, whose dream is to go to the grand capital of Mohenjo Daro and experience a world outside of his tranquil hamlet. Within minutes of arriving at Mohenjo Daro, Sarman starts have strange experiences. A mad man (Piyush Mishra) takes one look at him and warns him to leave the town.
But Sarman is in awe of the construction, the scale and the women, in particular the priest’s daughter Chaani (Pooja Hegde). But Chaani is promised to the corrupt head politico Mahman’s (Kabir Bedi) equally shifty son Moonja (Arunoday Singh). From here on you realize this is just old wine in ancient bottles. The romance with a pretty stranger, the rivalry with a muscle-bound fellow, the unraveling of dark secrets, and the saving of a town from a beastly ruler—we have seen so many versions of it before.
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 presents a mishmash of many such larger-than-life epics — from The Ten Commandments to Gladiator via Troy and Baahubali which dump their heroes into an arena, and have they fought for their lives: Hrithik faces off with two iron-chested cannibals (Bedi terms them, helpfully, ‘narbhakshi’) who grunt and growl.
just in case we were missing something, Sarman does a Noah too, launches a massive rescue op, and saves scores of humans and animals, to swelling background music.
Performances: Hrithik’s prowess is displayed not just in the songs but also in fight sequences. The fight sequence in the climax flaunts his flexibility and swiftness like never before and those fifteen minutes are a treat. While Arunoday Singh and Kabir Bedi are scary as villains, Pooja Hegde has little opportunity to display her skills.
Over all, the movie is a let down by Ashutosh’s own story. Watch the film if Hrithik’s physique, dancing skills and flexibility are enough to attract you but you can totally avoid it if a grandeur does not make up for the lack of substance, facts and logic.
Lastly, you certainly will not find history in the weird headgear or the strappy Greek sandals or the elegant cotton-handloom-khadi weaves, the open stitching and indigo-dyed fabric worn by the Mohenjo Daro people, but that could well inspire FabIndia to launch a brand new range.