Mr Gowariker, long practiced at making period pieces, did a fine job with Lagaan and Jodhaa Akbar - he appears to have faltered somewhat with Mohenjo Daro, set in the Indus Valley Civilisation in the year 2016 BC. Despite consulting a team of archaeologists, it's instantly clear from the trailer that anyone in search of an authentic depiction of life in an ancient world should not be expecting to see it in this film. Twitter, for one, is not.
Tweets ridiculing the trailer of Mohenjo Daro have flooded social media. Some are pointing out inaccuracies, others are commenting on how like a mashup of Baahubali it seems:
Gowarkar's Mohenjodaro trailer succumbs to the worst stereotypes of exotic orientalism. This isn't creative licence. It is low brow populism
— Party Martian (@paritoshZero) June 21, 2016
Shouldn't Ashutosh Gowarikar have realised that the actual citizens of Mohenjodaro couldn't have called it that- the mound of the dead?
— Party Martian (@paritoshZero) June 21, 2016
#MohenjoDaro means 'mound of the dead' in Sindhi. It was an archeological name given to the site when excavations began in the 1920's.
— Apurva M Asrani (@Apurvasrani) June 21, 2016
Someone on the team knows that the original name of the Indus age settlement was most probably not Mohenjodaro, right? :D
— Suchi (@suchitramac) June 21, 2016
@ChampDev_ @kamaalrkhan Are they showing reality? Did women in mohenjodaro go to the parlour for hair and waxing? And men had gyms?
— Mohd Akif (@mohdaakif) June 21, 2016
Mohenjo Daro looks like a mixture of Koi Mil Gaya, Krish, Gladiator, Ek Paheli Leela & Lagaan.
— Sand-d Singh (@Sand_In_Deed) June 20, 2016
what are these US immigrants doing in Mohenjodaro ? pic.twitter.com/8dF2HBAbPF
— Swagshank (@zZoker) June 20, 2016
Bae- come over.
— Swagshank (@zZoker) June 20, 2016
Me- no it's burning outside, i am in the bathtub.
Bae- parents aren't home
Me- pic.twitter.com/AKeVeXWxlv
#MohenjoDaro looks like low budget version of #bahubali.Will skip film but buy music of mohenjodaro by #arrahman & watch #Bahubali2
— Reem (@reemsaied) June 21, 2016
#Mohenjodaro looks like a mixture of #Baahubali & #Agneepath... But hope 4 something new...
— Suchet Reddy (@reddysuchet98) June 21, 2016
A previously-released poster of Mohenjo Daro featuring female lead Pooja Hegde has also been trashed.
Looks like Harappan women perfected that Cannes pose before Angelina Jolie did. #MohenjoDaro #Bollywood #Lol pic.twitter.com/W1A1IeUgfY
— Manoj Jacob Dhinagar (@MJDhinagar) June 21, 2016
I mean, there are literally hundreds of terracotta figurines depicting Harappan women. Take a cue?
— Ruchika Sharma (@tishasaroyan) June 16, 2016
Everyone knows the the (migrating) Aryans had a fair complexion.Not the Harappans. But fair is all that works for BTown.Thoroughly disgusted
— Ruchika Sharma (@tishasaroyan) June 16, 2016
Also half of those signs in the background are not from Harappan pictography. Some are hierogylphs. #Facepalm
— Ruchika Sharma (@tishasaroyan) June 16, 2016
Mohenjo Daro, Hrithik Roshan's second collaboration with Ashutosh Gowariker after Jodhaa Akbar, is scheduled for an Independence Day release when it will fight for audience attention with Akshay Kumar's Rustom.
Watch the trailer here:
