Movie Review - Mohenjo Daro - A Magnificent Journey Back In Time

Rating: 3.5 stars

A boy has visions around a different world on the other side of the country. He wishes to travel there but is discouraged by his foster parents. On growing up, he eventually reaches there and falls in love with a girl. A villain and his son are the evil rulers of this empire. A flashback reveals that he had a strong connect with this country and his family was the victim of deceit, greed and backstabbing. He takes them all in their own world and gets 'aam junta' on his side. They all root for him even as more secrets tumble.

Sounds familiar? Well, yes. This is what the core plot of last year's Blockbuster Baahubali was.

Wait, this is also the premise of this week's release Mohenjo Daro. Believe it or not but the young man here is of course Hrithik Roshan. The girl who entices him to stay on his the new world is Pooja Hegde. The villains of the piece are Kabir Bedi and Arunoday Singh, while the place of Katappa (though to a much lesser extent) could well be filled by the Pujari baba <Manish Chaudhary>.

That said, the similarities just stop here and the presentation, treatment and narrative of Mohenjo Daro is entirely in Ashutosh Gowariker zone. As a matter of fact, even the two line similarities as stated above could well be a mere coincidence as the world of Amar Chitra Katha has continued to be a strong influence in stories for decades now. Ashutosh Gowariker definitely carries certain vision for Mohenjo Daro (something that he has lived with for over half a decade now) and it is remarkable how Hrithik Roshan goes all out to ensure that the filmmaker gets what he wants from his leading actor.

No wonder, one can sense the kind of effort that has gone into making Mohenjo Daro the kind of big screen extravaganza that it was set out for. For starters, it is an extremely demanding film for Hrithik Roshan when it comes to bringing on a physical act into play. A lot of sweat and blood must have gone into bringing it right for the camera as Hrithik fights it out on a dusty terrain, goes full throttle in gushing water and generally keeps himself physically strong for a large part of the narrative, not to mention that the dance sequences that are meant to be truly different.

Same holds good for Ashutosh too as the man could just pick on references from history and then build an entire world, characters, proceedings and events from 4000 years back, about which there is no record per se. In a scenario like this, it all boils down to how big your vision can really be. Meanwhile, this vision also needs to be supported by a story that makes a mark in current times as well. In that aspect, the filmmaker keeps it simple with a love story, kind and his men, the politics of capitalism and the fight for power coming into picture.

Along with this all, he smartly integrates the civilization angle that catches your attention. In the middle of this all there is Oocha nagar/neecha nagar angle thrown in and while the gold digging episode is convincing, the manner in which Hrithik goes about becoming the 'messiah' of the downtrodden isn't really one. It seems a way too convenient and so is the love story which just isn't there actually, until the interval point and then the fantastic action sequence thereafter in the ring, which turns out to be the highlight of the film.

What continues to keep you interested in the film are all the scenes featuring Kabir Bedi. As an evil ruler, he also demonstrates the politics of power quite well and the many manipulations that he indulges in to fill his coffers and become the most powerful of them all. He keeps you engaged right through with his wonderful act and powerful dialogue delivery, something that makes you vouch for more scenes between him and Hrithik. Ironically though, the impact isn't as powerful when the duo come for a face-off in the pre-climax as it all turns out to be way too easy.

The difficult part is the climax that has never been heard or seen before. The whole concept of forming a bridge of boats is a great idea but the poor VFX spoils the show. In fact VFX is the villain of the piece for most part of the film as right from the sequences featuring the city from the top angle to the climax with floods engulfing the city, one just wonders why the makers didn't decide to invest more time and resources to make this a stunning experience. With the world of films already being exposed to bigger and better stuff, courtesy Baahubali and other Hollywood biggies, Mohenjo Daro deserved better.

Still, leaving this aside, the fact remains that Mohenjo Daro at least attempts to tell a tale from 4000 years ago, which is a brave move indeed. If watched with a sole purpose of being entertained instead of an intention to nitpick every moment, dialogue, scene or episode, the biggie makes for a fine experience.