Mohenjo Daro Review

Hrithik Roshan is known as one of the most hardworking actors in the industry. But he does very few films which shows he is picky about his choices. What else can explain so few movies since he made his debut in 2000? In Mohenjo Daro he has teamed up with his Jodhaa Akbar director Ashutosh Gowariker once again. They created magic back in 2008, can they recreate the same magic 8 years later? The insipid promos have kept the buzz very low and the choice of someone like Pooja Hegde hasn’t exactly made people crazy. Without even talking about the clash with Rustom, let’s get to the movie. Does Mohenjo Daro work as a movie? Time to find out.

Story: 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.

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Mohenjo Daro Review: First things first, Mohenjo Daro is not a historical drama or a historical romance. It is a love story which happens to be a fantasy and has the setting of the Indus valley civilization as its background. Ashutosh Gowariker does a neat job of placing the love story in that era but the movie doesn’t quite come together in the end. It all feels a bit disjointed where we get to see snippets of life from that era for a few scenes and then a cheesy love story for the next few scenes and the cycle continues. There’s also the terrible visual effects work in the climax. How did Gowariker allow it to appear in the final movie? It is painful to see that Gowariker has forgotten to make his brand of epic sagas after Jodha Akbar. Mohenjo Daro lacks the deft touch of a Swades or a Lagaan.

Mohenjo Daro Movie Review

Mohenjo Daro Movie Review

We don’t want to play historical critics and we are not going to comment about the historical accuracies or inaccuracies. The editing of Mohenjo Daro is snappier than Gowariker’s past movies but it still ends up being about 10-15 mins too long. The production design and costume design all look huge in scale and the crocodile scene doesn’t have the same impact as the makers intended. The visual effects of Mohenjo Daro is one of the main drawbacks of the movie. It is just too shabby. What were the makers thinking allowing this to be in the final version? Even Indian cartoon network shows have better visual effects. The music of Mohenjo Daro, even if it is by AR Rahman, is not noteworthy. A younger music director could have infused fresher tones into the movie.

Acting: Hrithik Roshan is a good actor, we all know that. But why then does he keep choosing movies which don’t give his acting range the full potential? He is fine in Mohenjo Daro and is perfect as someone who would resemble Hrithik Roshan in 2016 BCE. He acts, and fights and even dances like only he can. Pooja Hegde is unfortunately a disappointment. She feels miscast for the role even though she seems talented. She is expressive, considering this is her debut movie. Kabir Bedi is menacing and is perfectly cast as the main antagonist. Arunoday Singh looks the part but doesn’t act the part.

Conclusion: Mohenjo Daro feels like a big let off because it rues the scale that it tries to showcase. A movie based in the Indus valley civilization definitely deserved to be more fully thought out, but Mohenjo Daro comes across as a plain love story. Don’t go in as a history professor, but go in as a casual audience member who is getting to see cool sets and naturally lit studios dressed up as Mohenjo Daro.

Mohenjo Daro is far from a bad film, it is in fact a good film but we can’t help but feel sad about the fact that it could have been a huge Magnum Opus. That leaves a sour taste. If you go in expecting nothing, then you might even love Mohenjo Daro. For what it’s worth, the movie could be watched once.

Pros:

  • The era it tries to showcase
  • Grand scale showing through cinematography and production design
  • Hrithik Roshan is in his usual good form
  • The movie starts off very well

Cons:

  • It descends into a predictable love story which could have been set in any time period
  • Pooja Hegde is miscast
  • The music is disappointing
  • The visual effects are downright terrible

Rating: ★★½☆☆

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87 Comments

  • I Love #Hrithik Roshan….But Truth is that ke Yeh MoviE Bahut Boring Si Hai…Poor #VFX, Poor Acting By Pooja Hegde….All is Just a POOR

  • 2.5*is the best that it has got.worst movie beleive me.totally dissapointed.
    Now going for rustom in evening

  • Watched it ..
    Truly aggred abt the visual effect its worst..
    Nd also its simpke love story nt amythng else…
    3 str maximum…

  • As an akki fan i should be happy but as a cinema lover i can’t be. With huge budgets involved movie has to be good as well. Now WOM has to be super strong to break even. Huge loss for the industry.

  • Too much Bad review from Indine………

    It will be a Flop for Sure………..

    It will out from most of the theatres after a week……..

  • Ha ha ha ha,hrithik fans now it’ll realise.where is @neeraj,who was spreading negativity against DILWALE,FAN?????,ROFL.

    now kaabil will be blown away from REPUBLIC DAY.

  • Ha ha ha ha,hrithik fans now it’ll realise.where is @neeraj,who was spreading negativity against DILWALE,FAN?????,ROFL.

    now kaabil will be blown away from REPUBLIC DAY,ROFL.

  • I watched this movie
    Acting of Hrithik was good…
    Movie is far better than bang bang….
    Chemistry between hr and pooja was not up to mark…. If u go with high expectations then u will be disappointed little bit… Go for Hrithik only
    No doubt It’s one time watch movie

  • Now, even US is insecure of our biggest global superstar because he threatens Hollywood actors and actresses in terms of global popularity.
    That’s why they detain him and harrass him Every time. US is jealous!
    The biggest global mouth #SRKdetained again.

  • Didn’t expected this. No buzz meant WOM had to be super positive but this is bad. High chance of it being Hrithik’ s first disaster since guzaarish. Tough road ahead.
    This is a big set back for Hrithik. Now he surely is struggling again in the industry. May be hi worst phase since MPKDH. Feel bad for him.

  • Mohenjo daro has disappointed us big time …. feeling really sad for hrithik because he returned after two years and his hard work didn’t pay off !!!!!!!!!!!
    Clashing on Eid, Christmas and Diwali is OK but clashing on independence and Republic weekend is too much stupidity.

  • Finally,I am not surprised at all…Indicine is biased towards Hrithik Roshan…
    All are giving 4 stars to MD…But shit sites doesn’t know how to rate a special movie like MD..
    Indicine gave 4 stars to shit movies HNY,Prem ratan dhan payo…No one give a damn to your site…Looser…

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