This Friday, Hindi film industry will witness one of the biggest clashes of this year. Superstar Akshay Kumar’s ‘Rustom’ and Hrithik Roshan’s ‘Mohenjo Daro’ will go head on at the box office on 12th August.
Before the big clash happens, a lot of noise has been created around it. Many theories about who will win the box office battle have been doing rounds of media.
The competition is obviously tough. Both the movies are backed by big production houses, feature actors whose name draw audiences to theatres and have intriguing plots. While ‘Mohenjo Daro’ is about the bygone era of Indus Valley Civilisation, ‘Rustom’ tells the story of the famous K.M. Nanavti case which shook the Indian judiciary.
Apart from these aforementioned similarities, these two movies have something else in common too. Apparently, the history which both the movies promise to show is not all true.
Take a look at the historical shortcomings suggested by many of ‘Mohenjo Daro’ and ‘Rustom’:
When the trailer of Ashutosh Gowariker directorial released, many historians ripped it apart for displaying wrong history. A Twitter user Ruchika Sharma, had earlier pointed out all the mistakes in this movie with just six tweets. She slammed the trailer for the weird headdress of Chaani (Pooja Hegde) and for the obsession with fair skin. Have a look at her tweets:
Later, the movie was slammed for being close to the Egyptian and Middle East culture rather than Indus valley civilisation. Even Hrithik dancing in a dhoti, drew flak for being a typical Bollywood movie rather than a historical one.
Defending the criticism ‘Mohenjo Daro’ received, the on screen Sarman, Hrtihik told a leading daily, “There are only theories. There's no recorded proof, it's pre-history. There is no record of whether it is accurate or whether it is not accurate, there are just theories which have been floated by historians. The director has had to pick one theory and construct this film based on that.”
While ‘Mohenjo Daro’ has already not impressed historians, ‘Rustom’ too comes with its own faults.
Apparently, the moustache which Akshay Kumar is flaunting so confidently in the movie is the reason why ‘Rustom’ is wrong, factually. Naval officers were not allowed to don a moustache till 1971. It was under Admiral Nanda, the then Chief of Naval Staff that a new rule allowed officers to have a moustache. The K.M. Nanvati case which the movie depicts happened in the year 1959.
Well, it will be worth seeing that despite all these shortcomings will both the movies do well business at the box office. Only the fateful Friday and the extended weekend after that will tell.
