Asoka

Rating:
Summary: Operatic Shakespearean rump kicking...
Review: The mighty Asoka served as governor of two large Indian provinces in the third century B.C., both of them important seats of Buddhism. With a ruthlessness equal to that of his grandfather, Chandragupta, he set out to enlarge the kingdom he had inherited (in a bloody bid for the throne against the rightful king, his brother). In the ninth year of his reign, Asoka conquered the state of Kalinga in a grim and savage slaughter. "In that conquest," he said,"150,000 were killed or maimed, but I did not exult like a conquerer..." Instead, he was consumed by remorse and revulsion at the horror of war. The carnage of Kalinga found the conquering hero looking for a new meaning in life. The emperor ultimately embraced Buddhism - a new Asoka was born - and he used the machinery of his vast empire to spread the teachings of compassion and non-violence far beyond India...

This is what I knew of Asoka from my readings of Buddhism. Santosh Sivan's radiant film ends on the bloody battlefields of Kalinga, but need not (as one reviewer said) have gone even ten minutes longer. The depth of Asoka's regret and change are evident in his anguished features - and upon the agony-twisted face of Shahrukh Khan - as he kneels among the carnage he has wrought. One needn't be versed in Buddhist history - or much history at all - to understand this incredible transformation.
How much of this cinematic tale is drawn from historical fact anyway? Who cares as you are drawn into this grand Shakespearean take on a spiritual legend? And that's what it is, folks - positively Shakespearean. I wasn't sure that I liked the film until I had watched it a little longer, finding myself pulled deeper and deeper into the complications of the plot. Where else have we seen characters assuming other identities and making drastic turns when they believe their true love has died?

I've always been enthralled by cinematic sword fights, and ASOKA does not disappoint. He's good from the very beginning, but not too good to occasionally be the source of a few laughs. Later, when he finally demonstrates his skills as a warrior - and in the final bloody scenes as "Evil Asoka" - his fierceness is exhilirating! Even more impressive, however, was the battlefield appearance of the main female character, Kaurwaki (Kareena Kapoor). Utterly beautiful and baaaaaaaaaad on her white horse, she demonstrates that - lineage be damned - she truly does possess warrior blood.

As Mira Nair's MISSISSIPPI MASALA was the only "Indian" film I had ever seen, I wasn't really prepared for characters to suddenly burst out into song. Say hello to "Bollywood"! - but it barely seemed distracting as the tale unfurled. As it was, such scenes only occurred about four times - and in the appropriate places (not unlike the emotive musical interludes in American films and television which help to sell a few million copies of the soundtrack).

The only minor annoyance in the version I saw was that the subtitles were often difficult to read in the more brightly-lit scenes (while the Widescreen provided ample empty space below for them to be placed).

Overall, I would consider ASOKA a worthwhile spiritual journey along the same lines as THE BURMESE HARP and IKIRU, but told as a Shakespearean opera with lots of awesome > < kicking.

Rating:
Summary: My Warrior
Review: Asoka inspires mixed emotions. On the one hand, there are elements of pure beauty and love and then you have a contrast in the horrors of war. The cinematography is rich and awe-inspiring. I was literally mesmerized.

This is not a romance in the sense of peace and love, this is a tragic tale of two hearts looking for one another amidst a world of betrayal and deceit. Not to mention a lust for power. The plot is complex and there are elements of revenge, cruelty and battles on a large scale.

The intensity in the contrast is at times overwhelming. The action never seems to subside into a moment of peace. Either passion dances across the screen or horror and suspense surround the characters. The musical numbers give some relief from the intensity, yet they are also equally vibrant.

This legendary story is recorded in a second century book called the "Asokavadana." The movie is based loosely on the story and at the end there is the implication of the renunciation of war.

"Love wounds in a way that does not let you live or die."

It is emotional from the start and is dark in its lust for power and beautiful in its exotic swirling dance sequences. An almost mythological atmosphere pervades the film in places.

The story begins when Asoka's grandfather tosses his sword into a waterfall because the sword hungers for blood. As his grandfather leaves, Asoka searches for the sword and finds it.

When he is older his life is in danger. His mother, Dharma (Subhashini Ali), asks him to save his life by fleeing. After changing his name to Pawan, he meets Kaurwaki who is following a similar fate and is hiding out in the lush green countryside with her much younger brother Prince Arya.

Prince Asoka/Pawan (Shah Rukh Khan) and the feisty and sensuous Princess Kaurwaki (Kareena Kapoor) imagine they have met before and Asoka calls her "my warrior." So romantic!

The story then dives into a crystal pool of the most primal instincts. A man fighting for a woman, a warrior woman fighting for her land. Splashes of color spread out against a pastel blue sky. Swords become a part of the characters as they fight for their lives. There is a reward for finding Kaurwaki as she is the daughter of the king of Kalinga.

When Asoka tells Kaurwaki:

"I couldn't put a price on you. The earth doesn't have enough gold for that."

We know he is going to pay some terrible price for his love. They marry and just as soon as you think this story is going to move in a good direction, Asoka's mother calls him back and he is then sent off on a mission.

"What is this surge of love?
Do I drown to experience it?
Can you tell what it is?
Where could it lead?"

On his return, he is told that his true love is dead. Once convinced, his aggressive nature emerges. He has no reason to live and desires only death. This loss of love seems to make him lust for power as he has lost the influence of Kaurwaki's love. He then ascends the throne of Magadha in the 3rd century BC. When he decides to extend the borders of his empire, he wages a bloody war on Kalinga, a neighboring kingdom.

This review refers to a Widescreen edition. My only complaint was the extent of the violence in places and the subtitles were white and difficult to read at times. If you loved Lagaan, this movie is much more tragic.

The story of Asoka's journey from war to peace. A mingling of intense sensuality with the bitterness of war.

Rating:
Summary: just plain bad
Review: one of the cheesiest pieces of film i've ever seen. horrible cheese. literally put me to sleep.

Rating:
Summary: A boring love story, that's all!
Review: I got this film with high expectations. The first 10 minutes were great, then there was 1-1/2 hours of boring love story, followed by 40 minutes of thumb twiddling while Asoka recovers from a wound, then a few minutes of plot followed by one of the dullest battle scenes I've ever seen. Lovely cinematography, appealing musical numbers, but a boring story. Rent, don't buy. I am so disappointed!

Rating:
Summary: Underrated and Brilliant
Review: This is the best hindi movie i have seen for some time.Yes, even better than lagaan.The whole movie is beautifully made and you can see the effort the team has made to make this movie.Those who say that the movie is not historically correct are missing the whole point.if you want history you better watch the discovery channel.
The movie starts with the young prince, Asoka when he escapes from his own kingdom to please his mother who fears for his life from his evil brothers.He wanders around and meets a girl with whom he falls in love.The rest of the film is about his journey on the way to become one of the greatest known emperor of all times.
The movie is basically a love story and is very sensitively handled by the director.Especially the last scene where he gets transformed is enough to bring tears to the eyes.
Santosh Sivan has done tremendous work and he should be proud of it.Kareena Kapoor also has done a great job and by far the best thing she has done uptill now.But the star of the whole show is Shahrukh khan.Those who have earlier criticised his acting will now beat the dust.Along with Dil Se, this film should be a landmark in his career, which shows his growing up as an actor.The way in which he brings Asoka to life should make any actor feel proud.
At the end of the movie,the scene which will remain in my memory is Asoka standing,staring in the sky, rain washing away his tears.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful find
Review: I was browsing about in the DVD section of a local store when I found ASOKA. The cover, admittedly, was appealing, which would account for my hand reaching toward it eagerly. When I read the back and discovered that it had some connection to Buddhism, I decided to call up a friend who is studying Buddhism and make a night of it. I am most thankful that I did.

After the first ten to fifteen minutes I was groaning. I thought, "Great, this movie is well over two hours long and we're going to be stuck watching a bad documentary with really poor picture quality." My friend urged me to turn it off, but I resisted, and within another twenty minutes we were both hooked. I found the film to be irresistible.

ASOKA runs the gamut between humor and sorrow with grace. During the first half I often found myself laughing at a bit of dialogue or a quick facial expression. I'm sure the musical interludes weren't meant to be funny, but, well, they were and I don't think there is anything wrong with being amused by them. It added to the experience in a wonderful way and set it apart from other epics of its kind. The anger and despair of the second half was infectious. Prince Asoka was tormented and so in turn was the viewer.

Shah Rukh Khan can be credited with the success of this film. He covers vast emotional ground with the dignity of the royalty that he was portraying. I've rarely said that someone was a joy to watch, but, really, Khan was. A lot of the humor lies in the subtlety of his expression, in the carriage of his character, and he pulls it off wonderfully. Truly, I hope he makes more movies that are then available in the States.

I will stick with what I initially said, though. The picture quality throughout the movie seemed uneven to me. It started off rather poorly, improved, it would slip and then reclaim itself. I have no idea of why this might have been. But that's only a little complaint. It didn't detract from my enjoyment of the film.

All I can say is that I had an emotional reaction to this film after it was over and I knew immediately that I'd want to watch it again. Sometimes it's hard to understand why a certain film clicks with you, but you just accept it and recommend it to others, hoping they find/see the same thing that you did.

Rating:
Summary: This movie deserves 10 stars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This is, by far, one of the best films I have ever seen. I loved the relatioship of the princess and prince. This movie made me cry when Asoka thought the princess was dead and went back home to dethrown his half brother. I found the princess to be quite beautiful, I even enjoyed the scores in this movie, this is not normally my type of movie with the whole sound of music theme, but it blended well to express the characters personalities. I cried like a little baby when the young little prince of Kalinga had the arrows in his back talking to Asoka about how Asoka promised he would never leave him and would tell him another story, the little prince of Kalinga boasted of not crying although he was hit, I cried for the little prince, and i'm not the emotional type, but I can identify with a little boy who wants to uphold his heritage, like so many others(espcially Afrikans) who have lost all connections to their ancestors past and culture. This movie moved me to the point of studying ancient india history. A good overall effort of the director and actors. SUPERB!

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: I love it! Asoka sort of reminds me of the great MGM days that we once had here in the USA. This film sets out to fulfill its promise by conveying the spirit of Asoka. I love the song and dance sequences as well, but of course it is not Western song and dance, so it will be much different then what many may expect, and that is not a good reason to put the whole thing down either! Really a great movie, and it raises love and life to a level that has not been seen in Hollywood. If you are open-minded then you will love this movie, but if you only like Hollywood, Pop Culture, and only USA hotdogs and hamburgers, baseball and etc. (like a real redneck) Then this movie is not for you at all. haha.

Rating:
Summary: Colorful and Vibrant
Review: The film shimmers in color and it seems you can see the sparks of electricity jump out from Asoka's eyes. I loved the color and cinematography. The dance sequences were upbeat with modern mixed with primitive style. The music was catchy and still had such a great Indian flavor. The two main actors were involving to watch. The movie has a Bollywood feel yet I think it is more contempary than some of the others I have seen. The film flashes with the music creating a unique picture. It sometimes reminds me of a music video. The actress who plays Kariwake has the most beautiful eyes and gives her character a spice and anger that makes her quite interesting.
The movie is about a prince who wanted to sit on his fathers throne yet had to compete for this with his stepbrothers. Asoka was playful and could be seen as a big child yet he could be vindictive and cruel. He had a lust for blood as the movie had shown us at the beginning yet he had a grief and sadness after violence was inflicted. He was human and the film I think portrayed this.
He ends up leaving his home on his mothers manipulation and trys to become an ordinary man. Yet his beauty and skill at swordplay and yoga moves set him out as something quite special. He falls for a beautiful young girl who I mentioned earlier. Karwaki is also royalty and is hiding from those that want her brother's throne. The romance sequences are rich with music, playful antics and color. The sex is left out for the imagination. They do not even kiss, which could be a bit dissappointing if you like to see this in a film. You can feel their hunger for one another yet it is not acted out.
The film takes a dark turn after Asoka finds out that Karawaki has been murdered. His mother is murdered and thats when he explodes with anger and revenge. This part I found hard to sit through. I wanted the romance to continue and florish and it did not. It really never had a closure to me. I did see what the film was trying to aim for and I totally support it 100% The romance was pretty much through after he leaves Karawaki and somehow I wish that part could have been different. This is a long film, covering 150 minutes with a definate Bollywood feel. I liked it and give it 4 stars.

(...)

Rating:
Summary: Buddies and Beer
Review: Not sure what these other chaps were watching, because this flick is laughably bad. Amazon.com's rating system needs a "B-rating" for movies such as these, because in the right setting, these movies can be good. One star if rating it as a "serious" movie. Probably in the 3-4 star rating for a "B-rated" cheese flick. Watch it with a group of friends and the aid of some mind altering substances, and you'll have a good time. Just remember to keep the DVD remote at hand to skip over the "song and dance" routines. We're talkin' painful.... not dissimilar to what I'd expect a cat in heat caught, in the fan belt of your car doin' 80 MPH would sound like.... Don't say I didn't warn ya. If you have a regular "bad movie night" with your buds, then check it out... but its definitely a rental.