Asoka (2001)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Santosh Sivan

Writers:

Saket Chaudhary (screenplay)
Santosh Sivan (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 October 2001 (India)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

Only the dead have seen the end of war.

Plot:

The Epic tale of King Asoka's life.

Plot Keywords:

Brother | Prince | Love | Empire | Princess

Awards:

2 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Shahrukh Khan	...	Asoka
Kareena Kapoor	...	Kaurwaki (as Karriena Kapoor)
Danny Denzongpa	...	Virat
Rahul Dev	...	Bheema
Hrishitaa Bhatt	...	Devi
Gerson Da Cunha	...	King Bindusara (as Gerson da' Cunha)
Subhashini Ali	...	Dharma (as Subhashini)
Umesh Mehra	...	Emperor Chadragupta
Sooraj Balaji	...	Prince Aryan
Johnny Lever	...	Magadha soldier
Raghuvir Yadav	...	Magadha soldier
Suresh Menon	...	Magadha soldier
Ajith	...	Susima (as Ajit Kumar)
Shilpa Mehta	...	Queen (Susima's mother) (as Shilpa A. Mehta)
Rajlaxmi R. Roy	...	Bar Girl (Aa Tayar Ho Ja)

Also Known As:

Ashoka the Great (India: English title) (USA)
Samrat Ashoka (India: Tamil title) (dubbed version)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

169 min (International version) | 180 min (uncut version) | UK:176 min | USA:155 min (director's cut)

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | UK:12 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Film City, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company:

Arclightz and Films Pvt. Ltd.

Trivia:

Shahrukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor had to undergo training in sword fighting for their roles.

Movie Connections:

References Wo hu cang long (2000)

Soundtrack:

Aa tayar Ho Hoja

Another 10 minutes would have helped

While this engaging film wonderfully depicts the evolution of a young man into the ferocious killing machine emperor called ChandAshoka (Wild Ashoka) it pays little attention to the much more vital legacy as DharmAshoka (Faithful Ashoka). Cutting two songs, and adding another 10 minutes of exposition to show his evolution into the enlightened and compassionate meesenger of Buddhism would have made the film much more complete, and raised it to the level of highest achievement. Ashoka made Kalinga into a centre of Buddhism that endured more than a millennium, until the Shaivaite and Vaishnavite Hindu Renaissance of the 12th and 13th centuries. His legacy as a prophet of multiculturalism, peace and tolerance was insufficiently explored. It might have helped to have had an English translation of the beautiful and profound rock edicts that were shown only as a visual element in the opening and closing credits. It is a shame that Ashoka's Greek ancestry is not even acknowledged in the film. His grandfather Chandragupta, who is seen as convert to the ultra-pacifist Jain faith in the opening scenes, married the daughter of rht edfeated Greek general Seleucus Nicator, who led Alexander the Great's forces to defeat in the Punjab. Ashoka was born of one of Bindusara's Indian wives, which makes Ashoka at least one quarter Greek -- he was the very fusion of the Greco-Indian classical tradition, snd it was he who caused to be erected the collossal Buddhas at Bamiyan, destroyed earlier this year by the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Despite these minor failings it is a superb film, and even today you can wander the sand dunes of the River Daya (Compassion) in southeastern Orissa (formerly Kalinga) and experience the fullimagining of the Ashokan battlefield. Best regards Satya