Mohenjodaro review & rating

Rating: 1.75/5

Story:

Sarman (Hrithik Roshan), a peasant stays with his uncle and aunt in a village. Learnt about the big things, where they trade their goods, Sarman goes to Mohenjo Daro for trade. 

He notices Maham (Kabir Bedi) and his son Moonja (Arunoday Singh) giving the ill treatment to peasants and decides to leave the town. But what stops him was his love at the first sight scenario with Chaani (Pooja Hegde), a priest’s daughter, who is considered to be a blessing for the town but is promised in marriage to Moonja. How will Sarman win his love and what are the consequences he faced in this journey? Answers for these questions can be found in the rest of Mohenjo Daro.  

Analysis:

When the project, Mohenjo Daro was announced, being a historical one, there is a lot of excitement among the Bollywood audience. But the point, good vs evil angle is done to death and that is exactly what happens in Mohenjo Daro. If even the same story was made in 2016 BC Bombay, no one would actually care. 

Taking a tale ‘Palat’ from DDLJ, and another scene, which is climbing the mountain and going to other side of town, appears like inspired from Baahubali. Adding to it, ‘iksinga’ (one-thorned horse) that Sarman keeps dreaming about is like a ‘Garibon ka Harry Potter’ co-incidence. It is similar to the patronous that Harry sees.

Then back to bollywood to remind Aamir Khan. Peasants protesting against taxes they can’t pay is what makes one go back to Lagaan and then Swades, when the entire village join hands to generate electricity. These are the films that came to my mind and I bet you would probably remember, if you are movie freak who can watch films of different languages.

Performance:

Hrithik Roshan still managed to give his best even for a botched script like Mohenjo Daro and actually it is his decent performance that makes one stop from kicking the exit doors. His action scenes with Bhakar-Zokar are good enough.

Pooja Hegde debuts in the film, but she did not get much to do excepting a plastic smile on the face throughout. Kabir Bedi expressions are so dramatic, that you actually treat it as a butt of a joke, rather than getting scared, which is the maker’s intention.

The film’s setting which was made to look costly helps AR Rehman’s music to stand out, but still that alone is not bearable. Editing is decent and so are the dialogues. Production values are rich enough. 

Director Ashutosh Gowarikar literally tested the patience of the audience. The first frame, which states 2016 AD in bold words, there is nothing portrayed ahead that backs it. The entire film actually appears more of a funny stuff for its dramatic narration.

Finally: 

I want my readers to watch films every weekend and not just end up watching Mohenjo Daro.

By Phani Ch