Twitterati troll Hrithik’s ‘Mohenjo Daro’ for its historical inaccuracy

The trailer of Ashutosh Gowariker’s highly anticipated period drama ‘Mohenjo Daro’ was unveiled on Monday. The epic saga stars Hrithik Roshan, Pooja Hegde, Kabir Bedi and Arunoday Singh in lead roles.

Apart from the online release, the trailer was also showcased across all Star TV network channels as a roadblock. While the online release has garnered just over 12 lakh views now, the trailer was viewed by an estimated 30 million people on TV.

Considering the fact that Ashutosh Gowariker’s last film ‘Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey’ released in 2010, the director sure took his time with his next one. However, despite having a penchant for shooting critically and commercially acclaimed period dramas like Lagaan and Jodhaa Akbar, Gowariker seems to have missed a beat with Mohenjo Daro.

Gowariker’s rendition of Indus Valley Civilisation set in the year 2016 BC, even after consulting a team of archaeologists, is historically inaccurate at best. And since Baahubali raised the bar of ‘epic Indian period dramas’, Mohenjo Daro’s trailer has left a segment of audience wanting for more.

Needless to say, its inaccuracies have been ridiculed by many across social media. Here are some of the most apt and historically ‘accurate’ ones:

Really excited about the Mohenjo Daro documentary

— Tanmay Bhat (@thetanmay) 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

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

what are these US immigrants doing in Mohenjodaro ? pic.twitter.com/8dF2HBAbPF

— Swagshank (@zZoker) June 20, 2016

Relax guys, its an Ashutosh Gowarikar film. By the time he was done shooting Indus Valley got iron tools, horses and silk. #MohenjoDaro

— Shubhashish (@shubHASHISH) June 21, 2016

The #MohenjoDaroTrailer makes clear that the fall of the Indus Valley civilization was caused by Hrithik’s angry face-trembling.

— Beth Loves Bollywood (@bethlovesbolly) June 20, 2016

I am pretty sure @imVkohli will love Mohenjo Daro. Because the story is about year ‘2016 BC’. ? pic.twitter.com/7aUxyCtScB

— Mayank Pratap Singh (@Mayank__Pratap) June 21, 2016

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

#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? 😀

— Suchi (@suchitramac) 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

#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

Here’s a link to the trailer if you have haven’t seen it already: