Saturday, 7th June 2014, 7:40 PM IST

Ashutosh Gowariker, after ‘Lagaan’ and ‘Jodha Akbar, is getting ready to come up with another period love story, this time travelling back to the 26th century BC. 

When Gowariker narrated the story to Hrithik Roshan back in 2011, the actor was instantly convinced about the project. "He fell in love with the story." However, the green-eyed actor had various previous commitments, which he needed to finish before he could concentrate on a mammoth project like ‘Mohenjo Daro’. "He had a major chunk of dates allotted to Karan Johar's ‘Shuddhi’. However, since he decided to opt out of it, we decided to begin work on my film," Gowariker says.

 

Clarifying on how he plans to tell a tale that is both, ambitious and ambiguous in nature, Gowariker says,"While the plot will follow the discovery of Mohenjo-daro and the culture and the vibe of the ancient civilisation, it will largely centre on a lovestory," the director says, adding, "I've met as many as seven archaeologists who have been closely involved in documenting the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilisation. I have also visited the archaeological site of Dhola Veera in Kutch (Gujarat) for a recce. I'm soon going to visit Mohenjo-daro as well. But since the film is set in a certain period, we will have to recreate the whole site in a film studio. We're presently working on the logistics." 

 

So far, Gowariker is the solo producer of the film but negotiations are underway with a major studio. Considering his latest two flicks – ‘What’s Your Raashee’ and “Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se’ –sank at the box office, isn’t he scared of investing so much of money on a project? “As far as taking risks is concerned, ‘Mohenjo Daro’ will probably be my most risky film till date. If you let the box office numbers cloud your cinematic vision, then you will never be able to make the film you truly want to make," said the filmmaker.