Well, I had a lot of expectations from this movie seeing the posters & the publicity but I feel it falls short. I feel a good story has been messed up & what you remember long after you have seen the movie is the love between Asoka & Kaurwaki as depicted on screen which is not really the reason why Asoka is still remembered today.
On the plus side, Santosh Sivan’s cinematography stands out, Sharukh does a reasonably good job of portraying the character of Asoka, Karriena Kapoor has an attractive screen presence & will be one of the main reasons why the public will queue up to watch this film.
I feel the intensity of the story is lost by including all those unnecessary song sequences. What should have been included is Asoka’s contribution to peace by embracing Buddhism & his transformation from Chand Ashok to Dhammasoka( from evil Asoka to Righteous Emperor ).
Brief story line : Chandragupta Maurya becomes a monk & hands over the throne to his son Bindusara. Bindusara has 2 sons, one of whom is Asoka. Due to circumstances, Asoka leaves for the forest where he meets Kaurwaki, falls in love & they secretly get married. The rest of the film is devoted to Asoka’s transition from a simple prince to a power-hungry emperor.
Worth a one-time see!