It is a much awaited film about the ancient lost Indus Valley Civilization, Mohenjo Daro that releases next month. The film stars Hrithik Roshan and Pooja Hegde and is scripted and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker of Lagaan and Jodha Akbar fame. We can expect a dramatic, enjoyable and lavish production going by the filmmaker’s previous offerings; but we can also perhaps expect some cinematic and historic liberties it would seem… many reasons why the trailer (scroll down to view the trailer) prompted these reactions:

It is a ‘short’ film

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We generally expect that an Ashutosh Gowariker film will be at least three hours long. People were asking how many reels the trailer was! This film is a mere 150 minutes!

 

Historical inaccuracies

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There is much debate about whether there were weapons and horses being used in the era that places itself about 4000 years ago. Many historians have opined that horses were not domesticated at the time and the peaceful civilization probably did not use weapons of assault.

 

Mohenjo Daro or Gladiator?

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Screen grab from trailer

People were amused (and scornful) of the cinematic and dramatic liberties taken… there appears to be scenes in the movie that may be more in keeping with ancient Roman history depicted by Hollywood rather than Bollywood’s take on ancient Indian history.

 

Mohenjo Daro? Really?

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The movie title literally means “mound of dead” a name given by historians to define these mysterious lost civilizations of the Indus Valley and elsewhere.  The people of the time most certainly did not refer to their city as “mound of dead”!

 

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This is my city Mohenjo Daro, thought no one in Harappan times!

 

There’s a kiss!

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Inevitably, there was much excitement about the liplock between the protagonists of the film.

 

Fair and lovely bias?

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The Indian penchant for fair skin and the filmmakers pandering to this also came in for some criticism.

 

Then there was the croc!

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OK this was a long time ago, but asking us not to laugh at flying reptiles of that size is a bit too much to expect!

 

Feathers and hieroglyphics?

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Cinematic liberty is one thing, but villains with horned helmets and women with feathered head dresses posing like they are on the red carpet against some vague hieroglyphics… surely the filmmakers should have a wee bit more respect for audiences?

 

Harappan cricket?

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Some jokesters felt that we were to suspend disbelief to such an extent, we may as well have the Harappans playing cricket!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPZ5FKEB02I

 

Author – Reena Daruwalla

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