Producer & Director: Ashutosh Gowarikar
Star Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pooja Hegde, Manish Chaudhary, Kabir Bedi, Arunoday Singh, Suhasini Mulay, Nitish Bharadwaj et al.
Music: Allah Rakha Rehman
Ashutosh Gowariker, an actor turned director, needs no special introduction. He is known more for his historically oriented period films. He has so much passion & fascination for such films that he comes with this kind of films only once in 3 or 5 years. He has won a lot critical acclaim & awards galore for Swades, Lagaan & Jodha Akbar. But in his latest outing Mohenjo Daro, he has put a totally wrong foot by making an absolutely boring to death film.
The scripted scenario kick starts with the era of 2016 BC in the North West region, which happens to be the pre – historic India. This gradually leads to the introduction of Sarman (Hrithik Roshan) and his victorious fight with a predator crocodile. While on one hand the villagers felicitate him for the victory, on the other hand, Sarman is adamant to visit the city of Mohenjo Daro, something that his uncle & aunt are not too keen on, for reasons best known (only) to them. One day, after much reluctance, Sarman’s uncle & aunt give in to his demands of visiting Mohenjo Daro, but, not without handing him over an “identity coin”. When Sarman reaches Mohenjo Daro, amongst the many other things, he sees the beautiful “Sindhu Putri” Chaani (Pooja Hegde), the daughter of a religious pandit (Manish Choudhary). Both, for Sarman & Chaani, it turns out to be unspoken love at 1st sight. One day, the curious Sarman happens to visit the “upper city” in search of Chaani. It is here, that Sarman, besides being stunned by the visuals & locales, witnesses the disparity that prevails under the rule of the evil ruler Maham (Kabir Bedi), who had once been earlier exiled from Harappa. In no time, Sarman becomes the people’s representative and raises his voice against Maham’s atrocities. Amidst all this, the pandit reveals a secret to Sarman that not just shocks Sarman, but also, sweeps him off his feet.
Director Ashutosh has seriously erred this time round and it seems he has carried his passionate fascination for historically oriented period films a little bit too far. As apart from Greek God Hrithik Roshan none of the actors and above all the entire technical team have failed to live up to cine goers expectations and salvage Mohenjo Daro.
Performance wise it is a Hrithik Roshan film all the way and he has indeed delivered an outstanding performance. Even in his earlier such films he has always given a good account of himself. But only Duggu nay Hrithik Roshan cannot guarantee success for such historically oriented period films. Debutant Pooja Hegde, the Southern sensation, has not delivered any earth shaking performance. Kabir Bedi is excellent. The other actors comprising of Arunoday Singh, Suhasini Mulay, Nitish Bharadwaj et al are adequate in their respective roles.
Tail Piece: Mohenjo Daro, with a three and half hours longest duration, is another totally disappointing fare of the year 2016.
