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Asoka
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List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $13.49
Your Save: $ 1.49 ( 10% )
Availability: Usually ships in 1 to 2 days
Manufacturer: First Look Pictures
Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Danny Denzongpa, Rahul Dev, Hrishitaa Bhatt
Directed By: Santosh Sivan
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0687797954091
Format: Color
Label: First Look Pictures
Manufacturer: First Look Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: First Look Pictures
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2002-04-23
Running Time: 150
Studio: First Look Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 2001
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Editorial Reviews:
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Based on a true story the spectacular epic adventure of one of indias greatest emperors who has transformed by the love of a woman from ruthless warrior to a symbol of peace throughout the world. Special features: the making of asoka featurette: theatrical trailer: scene selections cast filmographies & more. Studio: First Look Home Entertain Release Date: 12/10/2002 Starring: Shah Rukh Khan Kareena Kapoor Run time: 150 minutes
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Asoka
Comment: This movie i would recommend this movie to anyone who loves a good love story you will cry you'er eyes out.And the main guy in this movie is so cute. WATCH IT.
Customer Rating:
Summary: HOORAY FOR BOLLYWOOD!!
Comment: Are you up for something completely different, something the likes of which I guarantee you have never experienced before? A film that has the lush aura of Franco Zefferelli's Shakespearean films combined with the extavagent sets of Liz Taylor's CLEOPATRA mixed with the whimsy of Baz Luhrman's MOULIN ROUGE as filmed by Akira Kurasawa? You say no such animal exists? Well, my friend you are wrong!
That film is ASOKA which stars the legendary Shahrukh Khan who is undoubtedly the most worshipped romantic leading man in the world of cinema today--bar none. I was going to say that he was the most lusted after, which is probably true as well, but there is something about SRK, as he is known, that seems to evoke an even more powerful emotion in women than mere lust. He is Rudolph Valentino, Gene Kelly, and, when he needs to be, Douglas Fairbanks. He's all of those and more, he's an original. And he's a very important part of what makes this film work so well.
There is so very much in this film to like aside from Khan that I hardly no where to begin. The cast is all superb, especially his co-star the incredibly beautiful Kareena Kapoor who plays Asoka's love interest the Princess Kaurwaki, she couldn't be more believable as the woman for whom he would gladly give up a throne. The sets and costumes and sets are gorgeous and whether or not they are true to the time period couldn't concern me less since the director's approach to this film seems to be more that of a romantic fantasy that of an historical documentary.
That brings us to the one element that sets Bollywood pictures apart from Hollywood films, the musical numbers! (Remember I said SRK had a little Gene Kelly in him.) The fact that anyone can burst into song and dance for no apparent reason at any given moment is one of the things I like best about Bollywood movies. There is so much joy and exuberance in these numbers that sometimes I just want to get up and dance myself, but since I look nothing like those pretty girls with their bare midriffs I've managed to restrain myself, so far. I know what you're thinking, but really after you get accustomed to it the songs won't bother you at all. In fact you might even like them. They're sort of a combination of folk and pop, and they're very catchy. I've always liked "foreign" folk music so I fell right into it.
But what about the story, you say. The story is mostly fiction based on fact. There was a man named Asoka who became a brutal monarch and then renounced his throne to spread the word of Buddha. He is in fact credited with having transformed Buddhism from a second-rate sect into a major world religion by sending forth missionaries. His personal life and his rise to power which are the subjects of this film,are the stuff of myth and legend. But that's always where the best stories are.
The dvd begins with a crawl that fills us in a tiny bit on the importance of the the man in the story we are about to see which is very helpful for those of us without any background in Buddhism. And our story itself begins with Asoka's grandfather the Emperor Chandragupta Mauya giving away all his possessions to the people prior to embracing his new life as a Jainist monk. Asoka is just a young boy and doesn't understand his grandfather's choice, nor does he understand when his grandfather tries to stop Asoka from keeping his sword for himself. His grandfather tells him that the sword is a demon and that once it is drawn it sees neither friend nor foe it only thirsts for blood, and that he should throw it away before it can do anymore harm. Asoka refuses, so his grandfather grabs it from him and throws it in the river himself, then leaves on his journey with the other monks. If only Asoka had left the sword in the river, but he doesn't. If only he had not drawn it, but he does. If only he learned from that first bloody lesson, but he doesn't.
There is plenty more to Asoka's story, the film runs well over 2 and 1/2 hours, but in that time it manages to pack in adventure, romance, comedy, drama, one really good battle scene and a couple of small skirmishes, plus song and dance numbers that run the gamut from free wheeling fun, to sensual and exotic desire. My God, how much more do you want from your first Bollywood experience!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING? FOR EVERY BLOCKBUSTERS HAS A COPY OF THIS MOVIE. GO RENT IT. Really.
Oh, there is one tiny negative. The subtitles aren't the easiest to read, but after awhile I found that I didn't really need to read them word for word in order to understand and enjoy this film.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Don't let the cheap price and cover fool you!
Comment: I assumed that with the low price of the movie and the slightly cheesy cover that it was going to be bad.
I was pleased to find that it was nothing like I expected.
A largely fictional retelling of Asoka with added music and romance.
On the cover it has a quote from the Daily Mail saying that Asoka is an epic on the scale of Gladiator. While at first I had my doubts, I completely agreed a little more than halfway through the film.
It was so good I didn't want it to end. And the ending still breaks my heart.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Comment: i really liked this movie. the musical bits were funny and sweet. it has a good story behind it. of course if you're into the older films then you might not like all the special effects and modern twists...but i enjoyed it very much. i've seen it over 20 times and i recommend anyone to watch it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Lousy, Exploitative, and Waste of Time and Talent
Comment: Avoid this movie. There are dozens of other Shahrukh Khan movies far better than this one, and many more beautiful Indian actresses rather than Kareena Kapoor. The biggest problem with this movie is that its an insult to one of India's most revered leaders. Its like making a movie about George Washington complete with hiphop music and the story ends before he becomes president. If you go to Wikipedia and look up Ashoka, you'll see that he has a powerful influence even on modern day India and Buddhism. Unfortunately, someone thought they could make a buck by condensing a small part of his life into a action/romance. Its just terrible. The singing and dancing are totally inappropriate. The battle scenes are small and a bit cheesy. The story is very confused (which woman does he love? why is he killing his brothers? why is he attacking Kalinga, why was he wandering around in Kalinga by himself incognito to start?), but less so if you read the real story to find the "backstory". And at the end, when I thought maybe it has some redeeming value where it shows Ashoka's great transformation, it suddenly ends. Its just garbage. If you want to see Khan in his glory see Khabie Kushie Khabe Gum, Dil Se or even Devdas. At least those have better songs, better dancing, appropriate musical interludes, better story, emotional arc, better costumes, and better family values and sense of romance. This movie was just about making a quick buck, and Khan should be ashamed to be a part of it.
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