Asoka Review
by Mark R. Leeper (markrleeper AT yahoo DOT com)October 25th, 2001
ASOKA
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Fanciful retelling of the story of Asoka, the Emperor who conquered India and then spread Buddhism. This film has unusually rich production values for a Hindi film and tells his life as a love story between two young people. The real content of the film is the fictionalized romance and any historical detail is little more than a plot complication. Rating: 7 (0 to 10), +2 (-4 to +4)
Who was Asoka? Americans may be vaguely aware that the name Asoka (or Ashoka) is venerated by Indians. (In the US it seems to be a common name for Indian restaurants.) Asoka is for India approximately what King Arthur was for Britain. He was the third emperor in the Maurya (Peacock) Dynasty. His grandfather, Chandragupta Maurya, was the first great conqueror in the subcontinent since Alexander the great and unified much of the area we now think of as Northern India. He left his son Bindusara to rule after him. When Bindusara, in turn, was dying his son Asoka murdered all rival princes but Asoka's brother. This bit of barbarity did not sit well with the people and it was four years before Asoka was allowed to ascend the throne and become King of Magadha. After eight years of rule, he began his campaign of extending his empire by warring on the neighboring kingdom of Kalinga.
Asoka nearly finished the job of conquest of by spreading his empire to all of the subcontinent, as well as parts of Afghanistan, the Himalayas, Nepal, Kashmir, and the Swat Valley. But to hold power he had to change his image. Once he had conquered he won support by cultivating a character of righteousness and promulgating Buddhism, though little is known if he himself actually even adopted the religion. However, while he formerly was known as Asoka the Fierce (Chandashoka) he now became Asoka the Righteous (Dharmashoka). He tried to be a ruler that the people would want, working for civil improvement. Asoka set up systems of communication, provided trees along roads to comfort travelers. He provided medical facilities for men and animals, and championed religious tolerance. His edicts, carved in stone throughout the empire, became the most lasting reminder of his reign. In fact though he ruled roughly from 272 to 242 B.C., his legend was not written until the second century A.D. The Greek historians never mention him and even the Brahman's do not mention him, but he is a Buddhist legend. It has been pointed out that more people remember his name than those of Caesar or Charlemagne.
Sadly, much of this is incidental to the film. The telling of the story of Asoka is as fanciful and has as little relation to real history as the film CAMELOT. Instead, the film ASOKA becomes in large part a (temporarily) tragic love story. The film begins with Asoka (Shah Rukh Khan), a young prince, being given a sword that is as much a demon as it is a sword. He is told he will be great and goes to claim that heritage. He finds it is all too easy to use his sword in palace intrigues. As a result he chooses for himself a sort of voluntary exile and what Australians would call a walkabout.
While on his sojourn he happens to see and instantly fall in love with a dancing princess. She is Kaurwaki (Kareena Kapoor). He also makes friends with a Buddhist holy man who plants the seeds of Asoka's later historic transformation to Buddhism. As he travels we see his tempestuous nature that will lead him to become the fierce conqueror. Both transformations wait until late into the 150-minute film.
Santosh Sivan who directs and co-wrote the film gives the film a very nicely polished or frequently even a lush sumptuous look. Until recently Asian films have not seemed to go in a big way for spectacular large-scale battle scenes. Now Chinese and Indian filmmakers are recognizing that they can stage historical spectacle more economically than their Hollywood counterparts. Sivan takes a while but does give us some big battle scenes. The film opens more with a flare of fantasy in a style reminiscent perhaps of a Sinbad film. The music is by Anu Malik, whose songs do not really help the period feel, but are quite pleasant. I rate ASOKA a 7 on the 0 to 10 scale and a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Americans without much experience with Indian films should expect some stylistic differences. Acting is occasionally overdone by American standards. That is just the art form. Music is a very integral part of Indian films, much more than American films. A friend liked the film but expressed some frustration that the action would stop inappropriately for what appeared to be embedded music videos, sometimes with music and dancing that seemed very wrong for the period. This too is really part of the art form. Think of it as seasoning added to the meat of the story. In fact as a nice souvenir the songs of almost any major film are available in Indian music stores and even groceries on audio cassettes for only two or three dollars. It is a real bargain. Much of the music easily becomes very likable.
Mark R. Leeper
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Copyright 2001 Mark R. Leeper
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
