Watch Aśoka For Free

So much average

hyped garbage

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I understand that movies are made for the sake of entertainment, but I am ashamed that the only type of entertainment that is appreciated by Indian viewers is romance, which this movie is really about. I read the comments section of this movie and I see a lot of people make excuses to why so much romance was involved in what should have been a serious dramatization of Asoka the tyrant and Asoka the saint. They say that without romance the movie would not have been entertaining. The ones that say this likely have never seen the real good stuff such as Lawrence in Arabia. Seriously, imagine Lawrence of Arabia movie, not imagine if several scenes portraying his multilayered character were replaced with some romantic scenes with a scantily clad beauty in the desert. That movie would have been laughed at globally. A similar form of adulteration was done in the plot of Asoka. I am startled by the kind of praise this movie has received despite the utter dilution and corruption of topic at hand. The problem with general Indian audience is they do not even know what makes a good movie. If someone made the movie Asoka without romance and mostly focusing on conquests and spiritual messages, the same fans who are praising this movie would have loved it and probably called their all time favorite. Problem with Indian movie making industry is you very rarely get movies that have been flawlessly directed and focused on a certain topic. This has made the fanbase laud mediocrity. I am terribly disappointed in Santosh Sivan who went this route, possibly at the behest of producers. I do not doubt Sivan's credentials, but someone like Gowariker would have probably made a far superior flick by condensing the romance to about 10% of what we saw. Sivan and SRK probably took this route to earn profits, but this movie was a huge disappointment at the box office. I believe that if this movie got a Gowariker treatment where he would not give two f***s about catering to the masses, the movie would have done much better.

I rented this movie because the text on the cover appealed to me. It was speaking about the transformation of a King who lived in the 3rd century India and turned from a warrior to a Buddhist and then helped to spread the message. I also suspected from the cover that it is a grand epic, based on a true story I didn't hear about so far. I got the epic part right, there were plenty of action, battle scenes. But I was disappointed because the Buddhist years of Asoka's kingdom were not pictured at all. Instead the whole movie was focusing on the love story thread.(Side track: My house mate walked in while I was watching the movie and said he was "in love" when he saw the actress playing the king's love interest, Kareena Kapoor, granddaughter of legendary Raj Kapoor.) I was hoping to see how Asoka transforms from the mightiest and bloodiest war hero to the calm Buddhist, but saw none of it. Thus it was not entirely believable for me, that just because he lost his true love and found her after the battle that would be enough to turn him into a meek person. And why did they have to put in the obligatory music-video-clip type of songs, all 5 of them. They were fun, but didn't add anything to the movie. To close on a plosive note I would like to acknowledge that it was shot beautifully and the cutting was modern. Mostof it was a treat for my eyes. A tad bit too long though with its 170 minutes.

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.

I love the film ASOKA because it was a very special film! King Khan's performance was excellent+! The songs and dances were exotic! King Khan really have the face of the king, and his name is the perfect name for him. Originally, I am from Kerala India and I really enjoyed watching Kallari because I haven't seen any films with Kallari since I have moved to Alaska. At the end, I was bursting into tears but I watched ASOKA several times. I do not understand why Asoka was placed second to Amir Khan's film. I watched that film too and I thought it was just an okay film. I am still curious about what happened to Asoka, Karwaki, Devi and the children. Is there a chance for Asoka II?Meena