Asutosh Gowarikar was one of India’s finest directors when he burst on
the scene with “Lagaan”. As a director who immensely enjoys the process of
research preceding a piece of history, he revels in the creative churn that
precedes the shooting of a film as much as the post-production part of the
film. His attention to detail and sparkling clean sense of cinematic opulence
have always brought out the lesser-known nuggets of Indian history which are
not as widely-reported as other facets. Lagaan
and Jodhaa Akbar were all about
such missing chapters which not many could refute. Because he selects historical
settings with under-researched anecdotes or imagined stories, his films are
seen for the figments of creativity rather than as records of authenticity.
Mohen-Jodaro had therefore
raised excessive hype with lilting music videos and extensive interviews about
the making of the film. The civilization that predates India before the world
knows us was always interesting - it has bits and pieces remotely remembered from high-school
history books: a unicorn, pieces of currency, goddess Sindhu, the great public
Bath, the multi-storey housing colony with higher and lower cities and the
advanced irrigation system more than few millennia ago.
What makes Asutosh’s films different is the cinematic high it gives
viewers from the creative liberties he takes in re-imagining a world now forgotten
and lost in translation. Coming from that background, Mohen-jodaro had lovely
music, a great-looking heroine and an angular hero who looks sturdy and
stressed to represent a character that’s improbable. It also has the most
menacing villain combination of Kabir Bedi and his wicked son. But the magic of
Gowarikar is clearly missing. It is missing in the sweep of scenes selected to
highlight the cultural aspects of a civilization. It is missing in the hopeless
fare dished out in the name of a story that resembles a cross
between a Bahubali, Game of Thrones and Gladiator.
It is missing in the overall lack of feel-good sense except in the
goodness of a song or two.
The story has no authenticity or
coherence; it just stitches up a romantic story between an indigo
farmer Salman (Hrithik Roshan) and Chaani (Pooja Hegde) blended with a predictable fight of
an under-dog out to avenge his father’s death. The only attempt to authenticate
this plot is the climax of a spectacular water wave which engulfs all life. It
is not proven in archaeological studies whether water which is the life-blood
of the Harappan civilization has actually blown away the Indus Valley
civilization to smithereens. Historians always opined that apart from building
flood defences, the highest recorded rainfall was a measly 13 cms but the film
showed a gigantic downpour which almost vanishes the Indus Valley population. There
were other liberties also taken like showing grapes and coconuts (these may
have come later and resemble today’s lot), Arabs and Mongols (who probably
invaded India much later atleast two thousand years later).
To be fair, there are some highlights. Apart from showcasing
jaw-dropping infrastructure like the Great Bath, the rectangular gypsum-coated
bricks built with stunning finesse,
director gives a taste of action in the first half and second half with the deadly
fight against the alligator or the exhausting clash of the hero with two
man-eating titans. The rest of the motifs pass without an excuse and fail to
prompt any emotions –it is so dead-pan unlike Asutosh Gowarikar.
Music by Rahman both in BGM and the songs stands out. The song “Tu Hai”
actually could have been better edited on screen because the beauty of the
melody gets lost in the elaborate buildout – which is not as taut as the
promotional video song. Hritik Roshan gives a convincing performance as a jaded
Indigo farmer with werewolf costumes and under-emoting. Pooja Hegde looks
ravishing in her skimpy dresses with enough skin popping out of all curves in
the body. But she sure doesn’t know how to kiss Hrithik in the film despite the
length of the scene ( a real surprise in Asutosh films which are otherwise
sober and subtle). A perennial problem with Asutosh is the elaborateness of
motions before characters are established and the story moves. It looks the
editor always takes a nap in his films;
this film is excruciatingly longer without the usual impact at 167 minutes. The SFX is patchy and not
segued well with the visual canvass Asutosh projects in his films.
Cinematography is to blame for this gap between effects and visuals.
ON the whole, this is a film that is a botched attempt in unearthing a
visual interpretation of an ancient civilization but the talent and money being
wasted for this pursuit is colossal – it
could have actually gone into research of the over 1000 plus settlements that
the Civilization inhabited in its march from Afghanistan to Mumbai. Instead, Asutosh
gives us an unexciting adventure that you have seen in many period films.
Director now has to get back his mojo by investing his time on a better
narrative with a historical context. If you skip the film, a better alternative
is to catch up on some of the umpteen
well-researched documentaries on Mohan-jodaro rather than go by the director’s
half-baked version of history.
Rating: 2.5/5
