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13 Aug, 2016

Bollywood's been obsessed with historical drama as of late, and critics have mostly rewarded this obsession.

Bajirao Mastani has critics ooh-ing and aah-ing at its opulence, crime flick Bombay Velvet was praised for its grit and even Neerja took us back in time.

But will Hrithik Roshan's latest Mohenjo Daro impress or fall flat? That was the question on everyone's mind as the film, which had been criticised for historical inaccuracies even before it was released, aired this weekend.

Mohenjo Daro features Hrithik Roshan as poor farmer Sarman who is determined to find success in the larger city of Mohenjodaro. Of course, during his quest he falls in love with the daughter (played Pooja Hegde) of a Very Important Person, and complications arise.

Here's what Indian critics had to say about the film...

Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express pointed out errors in costume design;

"The sepia tone of the earth and the dwellings is balanced by an array of costumery: everyone looks like they have been handed out unstructured earth-toned garments, which follow the latest fashion du jour. And lest you thought they were not accessorised to the hilt in 2016 BC, perish it: the villainous chief wears a headgear of horns (the happily hamming Kabir Bedi, who carries it off with a raffish air) to an alarmingly tall crown of what looks like feathers, coins and shells sported by the leading lady."

Sweta Kaushal from Hindustan Times calls it a Lagaan hangover that's all about Hrithik Roshan and his... ahem... skills;

"Hrithik’s introduction is all about his abs, and of course, his great fighting skills. The sequence is also one of the least logical ones. Hrithik’s innovative ways to kill a crocodile aren’t something we are interested in. His flexibility and dancing skills, however, are things that would capture our attention."

Namrata Joshi at The Hindu also draws the Lagaan comparison, noting the cliched story-line and length of the film;

"In both Lagaan and Swades the hero is the leader figure who gets the community together for a cause and shows it the way ahead. He helps people win a match in one and generate electricity in another; here Hrithik helps overthrow a despot and build a bridge across a river in fury. Yes, noble ideas all, but the kind that try the audience’s patience than engage them meaningfully."

Scroll's Nandani Ramnath appreciates the efforts of director Ashutosh Gowariker;

"The stunning threads and props transport us to over 4,000 years ago, and while there will be dissections of the accuracy of the period setting, there is no doubt about Gowariker’s commitment to bringing to life a vital chapter of early subcontinental history.... By yoking this history lesson to the present, Gowariker brings an under-reported and heavily debated period of history into our troubled times. Mohenjo Daro is far from perfect, but it’s also far more than the sum of its memes."

While Srijana Mitra Das of Times of India believes there could have been more;

"Mohenjo Daro should've had many more grand moments. As it is, it's less Ben Hur and more Amrapali - sans the sex appeal of Vyjanthimala's bustiers. However, its scale and imagination make it an interesting watch - as does the intriguing notion of Hrithik as India's first pratham sevak."

Of course, the real test of a film is what the public at large thinks, right? Here's what Twitter had to say:

Yikes!

Comments

Changez_Khan Aug 13, 2016 07:20pm
It's shame how critics trashed this beautiful movie, people should go and see this movie and judge for themselves. Hrithik Roshan rocks as always. Go and enjoy.
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Khan Aug 13, 2016 07:44pm
Watched the trailer and decided against watching the movie. In this day of cinema technology, the crocodile looked from 1930s cinema. An epic failure this here in US.
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Ahsan Aug 13, 2016 10:12pm
nodoubt Hrithik is an amazing actor build for historical movies like this but the movie was garbage and it has nothing to do with Mohenjo Daro... I think even ashoka movie was better. Please wanted to see some history not a romeo and juliet version of history hahha. The script writer has zero level research on Mohenjo Daro. If we go back to mummy movie how much research we see in that
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nida Aug 13, 2016 10:49pm
Positive side: many kids in our apartment complex will now know that there was an ancient civilization, a great one, with a great city called Mohenjo-Daro.
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Gopal Aug 14, 2016 12:32am
Why is every bollywood movie about romance, dance and nonsense? Watch Marco Polo, Spartacus or Russell Crow's movies. It's time for hindi speaking Indians to start growing up.
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Mohit Kaushal Aug 14, 2016 07:37am
Just watched Mohenjodaro in a theater in US. Its a wonderful movie. Yes it may not be 100% correct .... but you have to give credit to Ashutosh Gowarikar for being so bold and creative and trying to re-create that time for us - which is best that anyone could have done. Its been a couple of hours and I am still caught in that time capsule. People who are trying to critique on the factual grounds do not do so when they see bollywood masala heroes punch 20 people at a time or split bullets with a blade etc. I would rate it 4 out of 5. Go and enjoy the movie. Really nice!
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Ketan Aug 14, 2016 09:05am
Bollywood movies are crap. They do no research they have no script. Every lead character in the movie has to dance( funny Akbar dancing like a tawayaf in Jodha Akbar). Indians must boycott its bollywood and southern cinema.
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hamid shafiq Aug 14, 2016 11:06am
people remarks shows they do not want any classical historical movie whose back ground from Pakistan
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Sadiq Ali Bohra Aug 14, 2016 11:07pm
The research part of this film is next to zero, even worst. Even a child in Sindh knows that the name "Moenjodaro" was given by this century peoples after its finding. This word mean "Mound of Dead" so its not the name of the city at that times but its the name of the discovery. Only this laughable mistake would have been avoided if they had just read "wikipedia" for some basic basic information.
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