We really don’t know what to make of trailers of the upcoming film (August 12 release date), Mohenjo Daro.
Historical accuracy apart, what’ll define Mohenjo Daro
as a success or failure is its power of storytelling.
We really don’t know what to make of trailers of the upcoming film (August 12 release date), Mohenjo Daro. It’s supposed to be a historical, recreating the world’s oldest, ancient Indus Valley Civilization and yet Ashutosh Gowarikar, the director (Lagaan, Jodhaa Akbar) has announced that he has taken creative liberties to make it more relatable to the modern-day audience. How he has modernized a civilization that existed 2600 years ago is anyone guess…or horror.
Historians in India have been tearing the trailer apart for apparent historical discrepancies in the film. The first, and most astounding, is the use of the name ‘Mohenjo Daro’, which was attributed to the area in the 19th century. People living in that era did not call their land ‘City of the Dead’, for obvious reasons. We don’t know what it was called so Gowarikar could actually have given it any fictitious name under the pretext of creative license.
While the protagonist, Sarman (played by Hrithik Roshan) appears to be channeling Bhuvan from Lagaan, the heroine (Pooja Hegde) appears to be inspired by Mughal e Azam. Gowarikar does admit, in interviews, that Mughal e Azam was a point of reference for him. Criticism apart, the film does pay tribute to the ancient city, which is regarded as one of the most cleverly developed civilizations of ancient times. The architecture was superb and the people were very disciplined and talented. They actually did wear loosely stitched tunics (maybe not the turban and dhoti that Sarman wears though) and there have been findings that reveal the men and women wore jewellery in gold, copper, bronze and silver. Figurines from the ancient civilization hint at song and dance too.
We’re quite confident that Gowarikar and his team must have put in ample research on the subject and picked and chose relevant content while modifying some for the modern palate. What will define the high budget film (budget: 1 million INR) as good or bad is the narrative and whether the story telling is engaging enough. Flying crocodiles and over-agile dances aren’t convincing us, we must say, but then you never know what you might learn on the way. Jodhaa Akbar too was historically flawed but it worked as a romance and the chemistry between Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai was one undeniable reason for its success. Despite the kisses, we’re not so confident about Hrithik and Hegde, though.
