Mohenjo Daro
 |
Directed by: Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced by:Siddharth Roy Kapur and Sunita Gowariker
Written by: Preeti Mamgain (Dialogue)
Screenplay by: Ashutosh Gowariker
Story by: Ashutosh Gowariker
Starring: Hrithik Roshan and Pooja Hegde
Music by: A. R. Rahman
Cinematography: C. K. Muraleedharan
Edited by: Sandeep Francis
Production company: UTV Motion Pictures and Ashutosh Gowariker Productions Pvt. Ltd. (AGPPL)
Distributed by: Disney India
Release dates: 12 August 2016
Running time: 150 minutes
Budget: 100 crore
|
Story line:
Set amid the ancient Indus Valley civilization circa 2016 B.C.E, an indigo farmer from Amri, Sindh named Sarman (Hrithik Roshan) travels upriver to the largest city, Mohenjo-daro, where during a street mishap he saves the life of a beautiful woman named Chaani (Pooja Hegde) who as “The Chosen One” in service to Sindhu Ma, the goddess of the river which is the centre of their culture, is “the symbol of Mother Sindhu’s grace and blessing.” But Sarman soon falls afoul of the politician Maham (Kabir Bedi) and his son Moonja (Arunoday Singh) who are seizing power and starting to rule Mohenjo Daro as an empire. To win Chaani, Sarman must defeat Maham and rouse the people to save their city.
Know more about the captain of the Ship, the director:
The 1993 movie, Pehla Nasha marked Gowariker’s directorial debut. His second movie, Baazi (1995), starred Aamir Khan. In 2001, Gowariker wrote and directed the period epic movie, Lagaan, produced by and starring Aamir Khan. Lagaan, the story of a cricket match between British officers and Indian villagers in the late 18th century. It ranked third among 2001’s Indian movies in terms of gross revenue. In 2004, Gowariker directed Swades, starring Shahrukh Khan. Jodhaa Akbar (2008), another historical epic romance set in the 16th century, starred Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai. As a filmmaker he shows his own civility through his films. Gowariker’s romantic comedy What’s Your Raashee? (2009), starred Priyanka Chopra in 12 roles and Harman Baweja.
Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (2010), about the Chittagong Uprising set in undivided Bengal of 1930, starred Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone.
My Gut Feel and comments:
“The more serious the illness, the more important it is for you to fight back, mobilizing all your resources-spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical.”
Ashutosh Gowariker’s last successful stint was Jodhaa Akbar way back in 2008. Two movies after that What’s Your Raashee? (2009) and Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (2010) were average movies which doesn’t do well at box office either. With Mohenjo Daro I believe he came back strongly as it seems holding the novelty like of Lagaan and Jodhaa Akbar. I feels Mohenjo Daro is a difficult project as historians have different opinions and theories about that era. So doing research around it and presenting an entertaining fiction is a daunting task. Lead pair Hrithik Roshan and Pooja Hegde is looking good and supporting cast seems impressive. Going by the story line and length of the movie which is 2 hours 30 minutes chances are film drags in some part of it. Ashutosh Gowariker is a hardworking and intelligent director where chances of him going wrong is less. Film budget is 100 crore and on top of that Rustom is releasing on the same date, so Mohenjo Daro is expected to face tough challenge at box office as going by history Ashutosh Gowariker do picks up at box office slowly and steadily however as it would be an extended weekend with 15thAugust being a public holiday, chances are this film will do well at box office.
Going by my gut feeling I am givingMohenjo Daro 3.5 stars out of 5, one day before the release.