'Mohenjo Daro' box office collections: 10 factors for the failure of Hrithik Roshan's film

Hrithik Roshan's "Mohenjo Daro," one of the most-talked about and highly-awaited Bollywood movies of 2016, has failed to make expected collection at the worldwide box office in five days. With a budget of Rs. 115 crore, it is also one of the most expensive movies in the history of Indian cinema.

The massive hype and promotions had given the feel that it would get an earth-shattering opening and do superb business on the following days. Trade experts had predicted that this period movie would shatter the records of SS Rajamouli's 2015 blockbuster movie "Baahubali: The Beginning."

But "Mohenjo Daro" shocked everyone in the industry by failing to cross the Rs. 10 crore mark in both the domestic and international markets on its opening day. Though it showed growth on the following days, the numbers were not up to the mark. Its current pace of collection shows that the movie would struggle to recover its production cost in its lifetime.

Many in the industry are busy analysing the aspects that affected the collection of "Mohenjo Daro" at the worldwide box office. Here are 10 factors that we think took a toll on its business.

"Mohenjo Daro" clash with "Rustom"

"Mohenjo Daro" clashed with Akshay Kumar's "Rustom" which led to a split in screen count and audience. Hrithik Roshan's previous films "Krrish 3" and "Bang Bang" were released on 3,000 and 4,000 screens, respectively, in the global markets. Considering the budget and hype, the movie was expected to be released in over 5,000 theatres, but the makers' decision ended up with the film releasing in just over 3,000 screens worldwide.

Negative buzz on Social media

Clash of two superstars' movies always get unpleasant comments on the social media. Most fans even badmouth the rival. The Hrithik Roshan starrer became a victim of such a trend in which Akshay Kumar's fans always had the upper hand.

Akshay Kumar's smart marketing strategy

Akshay Kumar made a smart move by bringing in celebs, including Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh and Varun Dhawan to talk about his film through promotional videos and social networking sites. This trick made fans of the celebs to take "Rustom" as their first choice and ignore "Mohenjo Daro."

Poor response for trailer of "Mohenjo Daro"

The title of the film "Mohenjo Daro" had created a lot of curiosity and expectations about its story were sky high. But its trailer gave a clear picture that the film was not going to be what the fans expected. The trailer received negative opinions and became one of the most trolled promos of the year.

AR Rahman's unimpressive music

Oscar-winning music maestro AR Rahman is known for composing at least a couple of chartbuster songs in each of his Bollywood albums. But he failed to recreate his magic with his music for "Mohenjo Daro". His song "Tu Hai" for the movie is melodious, but failed to get enough attention.

Drab story and screenplay

Many audience and critics found a mish-mash in the story of the Indus Valley Civilisation featured in "Mohenjo Daro." They said the director failed to package its screenplay with a good dose of entertainment.

Pooja's poor chemistry with Hrithik

Pooja Hegde failed to impress the audience with her performance in "Mohenjo Daro." Many felt that she needs to work on her acting skills and expressions. Her chemistry with Hrithik Roshan is not up to the mark and worked against the film.

Poor special effects and lack of fresh elements

After seeing special effects of big-ticket Hollywood movies, the audience was not happy with the lackluster computer-generated imagery (CGI) in "Mohenjo Daro". Also Ashuthosh Gowarikar heavily borrowed from Hollywood films like "Gladiator," "Game of Thrones" and "Maximus," which did not go down well with the viewers.

Runtime

"Mohenjo Daro" suffers from a bloated runtime of two hours and 35 minutes. It could have been an interesting watch if editor Sandeep Francis trimmed some dragged scenes.

Poor word-of-mouth

"Mohenjo Daro" received poor verdict from critics and audience around the world and the word of mouth took a toll on its collection at the worldwide box office.