Movie Review
Courtesy : sekho.in
History or period cinema has been a favourite genre for film-makers right from Dadasaheb Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra, the first motion film in India. Although the budget & scale of this kind-of films need to be quite high, some directors still consider them a safe-bet since most of the stories have already been read by people. It’s just about how the feature is presented, with minimum cinematic liberties, melodious songs along with a pinch of bollywood masala.
Mohenjo Daro / Harappan civilization is a part of history about which very little is known, esp. the inhabitants and the culture. Attempting recreation of such an era was always a risky affair from the content point of view.
The film is set in 2016 BC where Sarman (Hrithik Roshan) a young Indigo farmer lives with his uncle Durjan (Nitish Bhardwaj) and aunt Bima (Kishori Shahane) in the ancient village of Amri (Sindh). Sarman in his sleep, gets regular visuals of Mohenjo Daro (a popular town closer to Amri), and feels drawn towards it. One fine day, he makes up his mind to visit his dream town with the intent of doing better trade, and explore unknown insights as well. On entering, he realises that though externally the town appears fascinating, trade-friendly and self sufficient, it does have its own set of rules & regulations, mysteries and also smells of fascism led by the tyrant premier Maham (Kabir Bedi) and his son Moonja (Arunoday Singh). Subsequently, Sarman falls for Chaani (Pooja Hedge) who is the head priest’s (Manish Chaudhary) daughter. Slowly, his bonding with the town strengthens further. Sarman’s pursuit in connecting the dots here-on forms the crux of the story.
The narrative kick starts with couple of thrilling sequences in the beginning. Further, the focus is shifted towards showcasing the unique aspects viz. barter system of trade, multi-level houses, etc. to give us a feel of the pre-historical city, never experimented before in Indian cinema. The second half gathers good momentum, and things started moving at a rapid pace. The story also highlights the hierarchical system, political framework, different styles of leadership in the era etc. in an interesting manner which is analogous and pretty very much relevant to today’s times. The religious beliefs / practices that may have been followed then have been depicted subtly. All these features may not be as authentic as historians claim, but a first of its kind attempt with some cinematic liberty is appreciable.
However, script-wise unlike Ashutosh’s earlier works, the plot is a bit clichéd. Although the narrative is presented in a different way with remarkable scenes which are quite impactful and well executed, the feeling of complete satisfaction is somewhat missing. Simplicity, a USP of Ashutosh’s cinema gets a bit camouflaged by style.
Cinematography by C K Muraleedharan is excellent. Background Score by A.R. Rahman gels well with the theme. However, from the songs’ perspective, only Tu Hai / Sindhu Maa make a mark, which kind of dilute the flow of the film. Art Direction by Sanjay Karole, and costumes by Neeta Lulla are quite good, but not outstanding. Somewhere the magical combination of Nitin Chandrakant Desai and Bhanu Athaiya would have been ideal for the film. The dialogues by Preeti Mamgain, involving a mixture of different Hindi dialects is quite interesting.
Coming to the performances, Hrithik Roshan does a fabulous job. His body language, action sequences, expression of emotions, suits the character well. This can by-n-large be called as one of his best performances ever. Newcomer Pooja Hegde as Chaani is quite competent but has a long way to go. Kabir Bedi is menacingly convincing as Maham. Arunoday Singh is first-rate. Nitish Bhardwaj, Suhasini Mulay and Kishori Shahane provide adequate support. Sharad Kelkar excels in a cameo. Narendra Jha is superb, but deserved more screen presence. Manish Chaudhary plays his part well. On the whole, the supporting characters in the film (barring Kabir Bedi) seemed a bit weaker, wherein the major responsibility lies with Hrithik, to carry the film on his shoulders.
Overall Mohenjo Daro is a good film, but falls slightly below expectations, given its huge grandeur and canvas. Having said that, the way some critics have bashed the film is unfair and absurd, owing to the hard-work effort that might have gone into the making of the film. Director Ashutosh Gowariker deserves the credit for his innovative thought process & imagination in creating a setup for which very little historical data is available. A slightly out-of-the box story which is very much his forte, could have perhaps worked wonders.
Nevertheless, to summarize, it’s definitely worth a watch.
Rating : **1/2
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