Almost all of us have had a chapter dedicated to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and its largest settlement Mohenjo-daro in our history books. Mohenjo-daro has been a peak area of interest for archeologists and history enthusiasts in general and filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker went ahead with an ambitious project of projecting it on the big screen.
In 2016, he made the film Mohenjo Daro which starred Hrithik Roshan and Pooja Hegde in the lead roles. Set during the peak of the Indus Valley Civilisation around 2016 BC, the narrative centres on a farmer’s journey to the city of Mohenjo Daro. There, he unexpectedly falls in love with a woman of high status. As their romance unfolds, they find themselves entangled in a struggle against the city’s ruling elite, facing formidable challenges as they strive to protect and preserve their civilisation.
Mohenjo Daro was made on a budget of Rs 120 crore, which was huge 8 years ago. Recreating the ancient city and getting the costumes of that era right was a major challenge that Ashutosh Gowariker faced. However, despite all the grandeur and the efforts, the film did not work at the box office.
Mohenjo Daro managed to collect only Rs 108 crore globally. The movie could not even recoup its budget. Did you know that much of the budget for the film was spent on the remuneration of the lead actor? Hrithik Roshan reportedly took home half of the film’s budget as his salary for the film.
Although the performances and VFX of Mohenjo Daro were praised, the faulty script and screenplay as well as the historical inaccuracies were singled out for criticism. With Mohenjo Daro, Ashutosh Gowariker’s luck at the box office ran out. He next made another historical film Panipat, which starred Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt and Kriti Sanon but it also received negative reviews and ultimately tanked at the box office.
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