Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat - A Masterpiece and Spectacular!

Monday to Friday at 9:00 PM on Colors

Director: Prasad Gavandi

Produced by: Contiloe Films

Cast: Siddharth Nigam (Ashoka), Pallavi Subhash (Dharma), Sameer Dharmadhikari (Bindusara), Manoj Joshi (Chanakya), Tej Sapru (Seleucus Nicator), Suzanne Bernert (Helena), Sumit Kaul (Justin), and Ankita Sharma (Noor Khorasan) among others.

Story so far: After the death of great Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, who united the most of India under one rule, his son Bindusara (Sameer Dharmadhikari) becomes the new ruler. Bindusara has the difficult task of protecting Magadh not only from foreign intruders but traitors too! There is dire need to protect Magadh from the Greek Army General, Seleucus Nicator (Tej Sapru), his daughter Helena (Suzanne Bernert) and her son Justin (Sumit Kaul). Being Chandragupta Maurya's wife, Helena wants to take over the throne from her step son, Bindusara and make her own son, Justin the king of Magadh. Chanakya (Manoj Joshi) is worried about the calamities about to fall on the kingdom.

In Buzkashi (goat-dragging) contest, King Bindusar wins the hand of Princess Noor Khorasan (Ankita Sharma) along with her army of soldiers, due to which queen Charumitra (Prinal Oberoi) is unhappy. Chankya too is not happy with this alliance with Veer Khorasan. Helana with the help of her son Justin and minister Ugrasen plots to kill Bindusar during his hunting trip, but fortunately he is saved by Brahmin girl Subhadragini (Pallavi Subhash). Impressed with her beauty and devotion, Bindusara marries Subhadragini and name her as 'Dharma'.

While Bindusara is recovering his health under the watchful eyes of Dharma, Magadh is on the verge of falling apart with no ruler to rule it. Taking this opportunity, Helena tries to announce Justin as the new ruler of it, but Chankya intervene. He understands Helena's plan to bring Magadh under her rule and takes Khorasan's help to search Bindusar's whereabouts. Khorasan finds Bindusar with Dharma. For Magadh's future, Dharma sacrifices her love and send back Bindusar who promises to return soon and honor her as his queen. In the court, Helena and Justin corrupt Bindusar's mind against Chankya due to which he leaves Magadh and awaits right time to make his move. Days turned into a month, Dharma is pregnant with Bindusara's child. Bindusara confides in Khorasan and sends him to bring Dharma. But worried about his daughter's future, Khorasan tries to kill pregnant Dharma.

By God's grace, Dharma survives and gives birth to son Ashoka. 14 years are passed. In a battle against Ujjain's Shaktiraj, Bindusara gets injured. Charumitra's son Susheel and Noor's son Siyamak both want to rule Magadh but none of them has the qualities suitable of a ruler. An incident leads Chanakya to Ashoka and Dharma. Fearing for Ashoka's life Dharma hides the secret behind his birth to Chankya. Chankya realizes Ashoka's potential as the future ruler. Chanakya gave Dharma two choices – to save King Bindusara's life with her medicinal power or lose her son Ashoka's life if she disobeys.

When Ashoka comes to know that Chankya has taken his mother to the capital, he barges into the palace to rescue her. When he is hiding from the soldiers on a tree, an unknown assassin tries to kill the king and blame falls on Ashok. At the same time Chanakya too is attacked. While Dhara's presence of mind temporarily saves King's life, Chanakya is not so lucky. Helena is happy that two of her enemies- King Bindusara and Chankya are no more, tries to put the blame on Ashok, but at the last minute Chanakya makes his appearance in the royal court leaving everyone shocked. Dhara is relieved that Chankya is alive. Chanakya takes Ashok's side and vouch to prove him innocent, which make Helena and Justin tense. As Bindusara gains consciousness, they try to convince him of Chankya's betrayal by taking Ashoka's side. Bindusara decides to make the judgment himself in the court.

What works:  The show offers the earlier details of Emperor Ashoka's life which we were not aware earlier. Unlike other historical shows, the script is fast moving keeping in mind audience’s current taste. Production has spare no cost in bringing 'Mauryan' era on the small screen, right from the magnificent sets, costumes, accessories to renowned cast. ‘Wonder Boy’ Siddharth Nigam makes his presence felt as Ashoka. With his sharp features and agile movements, he makes a perfect 'Ashoka'. Sameer Dharmadhikari has been doing historical shows for some time and carries the mantle of 'King Bindusara' very well. Suzanne Bernert lip sync the heavy Hindi dialogues with tremendous panache. Pallavi Subhash as Dharma looks gorgeous and is apt at conveying feelings through her expressive eyes. Verbal war between Chanakya and Helena is interesting to watch.  

What not works: Helena's conversation in perfect Hindi can be tiresome to ears sometime, because of the foreign accent. It would have helped if the dialogues had little less heavy Hindi words. Justin (Sumit Kaul) doesn’t have much to do in the show but throwing some glances at his mother Helena. We hope that there are much more shades to Dharma’s personality in coming episodes as she plays the vital role in Ashoka’s life.

Our take: What makes ‘Ashoka’ different from other historical shows are lead actors Siddharth Nigam and Manoj Joshi. The other cast blends impeccably with the script. From Dr.Chandraprakash Dwivedi to Manish Wadhwa played the role earlier and Manoj Joshi matches their caliber to the level of perfection. After ‘Mahakumbh’ Siddharth Nigam is again playing the younger version of the main protagonist. He is a sight to behold. Overall, this magnum opus is worth watching for its exceptional storytelling and stellar acting, terrific visual effects, especially the Lion… grrr!!

Monday to Friday at 9:00 PM on Colors