After ‘Mohenjo Daro’, Ashutosh Gowariker to make a period film again?

Filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker, time and again, has explored his love for period dramas. His first venture in this genre was ‘Lagaan’, a scintillating tale of inspiration and patriotism. This was followed with ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, through which he brought the love story of Mughal emperor Akbar and princess Mariam-Uz-Zamani, popularly known as Jodhaa Bai. His last addition to this list was ‘Mohenjo Daro’ which sadly proved to be a debacle at the box office. Although it has Hrithik Roshan donning the lead character and was made on a massive budget, the film failed to strike a chord with the audience. (Also Read: Ashutosh Gowariker confirms casting Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman Khan in his next film)

However, looks like the failure hasn’t lowered his spirit. If reports are to be believed, then Gowariker is set to make yet another period drama.

Reportedly, he has acquired the rights of a story based on a king noted for his humanitarian deeds. The king from Gujarat had established a home away from home at his Jamnagar palace, for over 600 Polish children in distress during the second world war. It is also heard that he consulted the king’s descendant and sought their consent for the film. Further, he also received co-operation from a few Polish survivors who presently reside in Poland.

There were quite a lot of post-mortems pertaining to the failure of ‘Mohenjo Daro’, along with the critics and the audience sticking to their own opinions.

“A film works or fails on its own merit. You can never blame an outside force for it. If someone comes to watch your film and doesn’t like it, you cannot do anything about it. They are very well within their right to reject a film. In this case, perhaps people didn’t align with my vision and so the film failed. Those who did find it interesting came and watched,” Gowariker himself had stated, during a conversation with Huffington Post.

Regarding his rumoured film, however, the filmmaker hasn’t given away a confirmation yet.

Ranjini Maitra

Journalist. Writer. Reader. Enthu cutlet. Mood-swing machine. Day dreamer. Sandwiched between ‘live life fully’ and ‘lose some weight’. Mantra of life: Love and love more.