How Hrithik Roshan's Mohenjo Daro ended up being eerily similar to Baahubali

As more and more people find out 'why Katappa killed Baahubali', the producers have been laughing all the way to the bank as SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Conclusion has taken the nation by storm. The Prabhas and Rana Daggubati-starrer, which is the concluding part of the two-part story, is not only breaking box office records but is setting new ones.

Right after the release of the first part of the movie, Baahubali: The Beginning (2015), there were reports about Hrithik Roshan and John Abraham being approached for the characters played by Prabhas and Daggubati. Reports also stated that director Rajamouli had earlier decided to make the film in Hindi and dub it in south Indian languages, but that didn't go according to plan.

Whether Hrithik was actually approached for Baahubali is still not clear as neither he nor Rajamouli ever spoke about the issue.

What is interesting are the glaring similarities in the plots of Hrithik's Mohenjo Daro (2016), which bombed at the box office and Baahubali: The Beginning. Mohenjo Daro was directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and also starred Pooja Hegde.

In Baahubali: The Beginning, Shiva (Prabhas) is an enthusiastic young man living in a small village with his parents. Shiva is always eager to explore what lies beyond the mountain near their family home. But his mother is strongly against his wish. One day, Shiva succeeds in going behind the mountain.

There he gets involved with the evil forces (Daggubati) of Mahishmati in a bid to help his new-found lover Avantika (Tamannaah). His deep connecion to Mahishmati is revealed to Shiva later. Shiva is actually Mahendra Baahubali, son of Amarendra Baahubali, who was killed just when he was about to stake claim to the throne of Mahishmati. Shiva also learns that he was brought up by his foster parents. Now, Shiva aka Mahendra has to avenge the killing of his father.

Now, let's take a closer look at Mohenjo Daro. Sarman (Hrithik) lives in the ancient village of Amri. He is unaware that his mother and father are his foster parents. Having heard a lot about the thriving city of Mohenjo Daro, which is beyond the nearby mountains, he is desperate to visit it. But his parents are against the idea. Sarman finally manages to visit Mohenjo Daro on the pretext of business.

He instantly falls for the beautiful Chaani (Pooja Hegde) and decides to stay back. But he is disappointed to know that the city is ruled by the evil Maham (Kabir Bedi). After a few incidents, it is revealed to Sarman that he is actually the son of the head priest Srujan (Sharad Kelkar), who was killed by Maham after he opposed his unlawful activities. Obviously, Sarman vows to take revenge from Maham.

Huge sums of money was pumped into Mohenjo Daro and the Baahubali films. While Mohenjo Daro was made at approximately Rs138 crore, the Baahubali films' total cost of production is Rs450 crore.

However, it won’t be fair to accuse Mohenjo Daro of being a rip-off of Baahubali: The Beginning since the former was in the making before the latter released. But aren’t the similarities just too many to ignore?