Aśoka (2001)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

As a Bolywood production and living in East Europe,this film was surprisingly easy to find (saw the name from a game and typed "Asoka" in the Internet)which meant it could be a good one.In fact it really was.In the genre bar is showed romance,drama,action,(even)musical but drama is most of the plot.Here is my review of "Asoka"(2001). The Plot-Be careful here!The movie is not for fragile hearts.It is directed good (by Saket Chaudhary and Santosh Sivan),it's like seeing all the important moments of a man,even for The Antiquity.The first love,the family,the friends and for the historical period-the war.Now now,I don't know much about Indian history but I have heard of emperor Asoka as a great ruler and the first Buddhist emperor who was good to his people and made trades with the Greeks,Egyptians and Romans.In the beginning of the film is said that there are some fictional moments but I think this is a good move.All the drama...just...you could feel it.With many ground-shaking and symbol moments from when Asoka cries in his-own hands full of ashes because of the idea his wife is dead or when his mother got killed by the Brahman or even the last scene-I will not reveal it because is the top point. The main role played by Shahrukh Han is represented excellent-all the emotions,eye-moving gestures are great.Kareena Kapoor playing as main female role is doing pretty well too.We could not say who is the real villain in the story,is it the greedy brother,Asoka's self destructing emotion of hopeless or Virat-the best friend,who is played by Danny Denzongpa and whose character develops from scoundrel bandit with freakish head noises to a good man.Not to forget Sooraj Balaji and his role like the young prince Arya.The other cast is also playing well.There are some 3 warriors-representing the society,Asoka's mother,the bodyguard of Arya and his sister-Bheem(a) - in Hindi the last "a" in male names doesn't spoken. The message of the film isn't just one.There are a few life lessons and wisdom you could learn.As Buddha says better to learn something before move on. My personal favorite characters are Asoka-himself and the bar girl which only sings a very catchy song-Aa Tayar Hoja-my favorite from all the 6 in the movie.Yes there are 6 songs long by 4 minutes but aren't boring.The atmosphere is good. The only 2 things i didn't like are the costumes-come on they could do better-like in the scene from the bar when the bar girl,somehow for 0,0001 seconds changed her dress from blue to orange-pink-and the connection with the title,especially "the great" part.We don't see when Asoka becomes a good emperor or maharajah but I think is about the historical sources.Anyway. The movie is great.You could learn a lot of things from Indian culture-like singing,a lot, to a life lesson.It is great for a rainy day or a long night.Don't be afraid of the merely 3 hours.It's worth it.

I watched the whole thing, and this is how it looks to me: The first 2 hours are for WOMEN(Songs, Love, Hitchhiking, etc). The last 40 minutes are where the REAL action comes in. It also includes the Historical aspect of the film, whereas the first part is a love story. Trust me,you won't miss anything important in there. I appreciate how the directors emphasized Ashoka's personal attachment to Kaurwaki(as opposed to the other wives), but all the lines are made up. Buddhism did not play a huge part, but it was there in the film, so Credits for that as well. Interestingly, many Edicts of Asoka make reference to the Greek kings, but they are not mentioned at all in the movie. In my opinion, much time is wasted on the romantic scenes.

This is the best epic movie I've ever seen. You can not see an epic movie with more emotions. I am not an Urdu or Hindi speaker so I watched the movie with English subtitles. I am sure those who can understand the language will enjoy it more but it was great with the subtitles.Raj Kumar Asoka (Shah Rukh Khan) has a sweetheart but time have turned him into an evil heartless soul after the loss of his love princess Karwaki (Kareen Kapoor). The switch that happened in his personality and attitude between the beginning of the movie and towards the middle is impressive. He was the soft loving prince at the start, then turned to be the evil heartless ruler at the middle.The flow of events are just perfectly done. It is an amaaaaaazing movie, and I really encourage all of you to watch it :)

When the ace cinematographer holds the megaphone what would you expect? Nothing but ethereal beauty on the silver screen. SRK:: For once he should be appreciated to have backed the project as a producer. All things said and done, it cannot be denied that he has taken leap of faith number of times in his career resulting in phenomenal success in his graph. Yes, Asoka falls into the same category. He gives his best to breathe life into the character of Asoka. The character is shown to be torn between the love for his mother, Kaurwaki and motherland. Kareena Kapoor:: Certainly you would carry the image of Kaurwaki for a few decades to come. Last time it was Rekha in "Utsav" and maybe Vyjayanthimala in "Amrapali". The cinematographer has left no stone unturned to present her in the best light possible. Her character is fleshed out strongly and therefore Kareena gets lots of scope to showcase her talent. Danny:: Reliable.Rahul Dev:: Good writing was warranted to make the character leave an lasting impression. Otherwise he demonstrated a well-chiselled frame.Hrishita Bhatt: Decent performance considering the scope of her character. Sadly Asoka could not do much value-addition to her standing in Bollywood.Ajith:: Down-south I am sure he was a huge heart-throb. Sadly went un- noticed in Bollywood. Additionally there was no meat in the character. Enigmatic lyrics were translated into melodious numbers by Anu Mallik, they were in top-form indeed,. Chroreography was top-notch. Special mention to Gayatri Jayaraman and Rajlaxmi R. Roy who featured in the "Raat Ka Nasha" & "Aa Tayar Ho Ja" songs. Sadly 'Asoka' ended up being compared to 'Lagaan' which released around the same time and therefore did not garner the due patrons.