Asoka - English subtitles
Habshi
go if the cinema is showing the subtitled one .
Was going to give it 2 our of 5 as the first half is very
slow , but the second half is more your typical fast paced emotional
Bollywood movie .
Songs and dances and costumes are very good . Loved the
strings of beads hanging from Kareena's bra and her tatoo marks on the
head and body which are temporary as they change location about ten
times in each song . They are bound to start a new fashion trend .
King Asoka in the 300 BCs waged war on Kalinga - Orrisa and
was so distressed by all the death and destruction caused that he
became a Buddhist and sent emissaries to China , South East Asia and
Sri Lanka and most of eastern Asia became Buddhist as a result .
However this kind of extremeist non violence laid India open
to attack from the north west and Hinduism had to come back to India
to save its culture from extinction .
Ranjit will fill in more details about this great Emperor of
India .
Habshi
Habshi
BY JAMES CHRISTOPHER
Asoka packs in more thrills than the rest of the movies combined
Asoka
Warner West End,
12, 173mins
Bollywood Epic
If films were placed under starter’s orders, the clear favourite this
week would be Santosh Sivan’s Asoka (pronounced very much as if Celtic
had lost 5-0 to Rangers: “Ashocka”). This tub-thumping Bollywood epic
about an Indian prince who lost his lover but conquered the world is
as true to history as disco. But in terms of colour, length and gaudy
bravura, there’s nothing in British cinema to touch it.
What makes it such a generous spectacle is that it works like an
old-fashioned musical. America lost the knack when cowboys went out of
fashion. Sir Cameron and Lord Lloyd-Webber priced themselves out of
the game.
Bollywood — by dint of being the nearest thing to a factory cinema —
has hired better directors, more exciting musicians, and mined a more
lucrative seam of bankable Asian glamour.
But the real stroke of genius is that director Santosh Sivan has
created a movie that can be endlessly revisited. Shah Rukh Khan (see
interview, right) is the John Travolta of long-haired princes. Blessed
with pop-star charisma and daunting martial skills, Khan’s Asoka flees
his poisonous brothers to discover his destiny. He falls in love with
a fiery female warrior, Kaurwaki (Kareena Kapoor), and his heart turns
to jelly. There are no naked breasts or heaving buttocks. But the
sight of Kapoor writhing under a waterfall is a hardcore “yes”. Here
singing is the sex. Close-ups of pouting mouths full of quivering song
express more sensual promise than a year’s subscription to Opera
magazine.
This being Bollywood, entire towns erupt into hip-shaking dance
numbers. It’s great fun. What’s disconcerting, and then compelling, is
the way Sivan steers the film to a darker place.
When you discover that he was responsible for the controversial (and
rather brilliant) The Terrorist, you can kiss goodbye to happy
Bollywood endings. Sure enough, the death of Asoka’s mother drives our
hero as nutty as Norman Bates. The battle scenes — surging, angry
rivers of colour — are bloody clashes between casts of thousands.
Limbs are dismembered. People die. But in Bollywood, magic and mystery
are as elemental as blazing romance. Sivan bows to this, embraces it,
and a potent but uneasy new film style is born.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 26 2001
Leading article
Bollywood dreams
India's films are winning world acclaim
India produces between 700 and 800 films a year for a domestic
audience that buys ten million cinema tickets every day. Bollywood,
making at least half, is the world’s biggest film industry, vibrant,
vulgar and brash. Most of its products are romances, with ramshackle
plots held together by simpering musical numbers, swashbuckling
fights, melodramatic acting and moments of pure kitsch.
They are immensely popular, not only in India but throughout South
Asia and the Middle East. Muslims in Pakistan, Iran or Saudi Arabia,
who share little of the lifestyle of Bombay, find in the escapist
themes a familiar and less jarring image of the world than films from
Hollywood, where sex, violence and individualism break taboos and
challenge social norms.
Bollywood, however, has longed to break out of these confines; its
leading directors and actors have become obsessed with the passage
into world cinema. Already they have established a bridgehead in
Britain: Indian films now regularly, if briefly, reach the Top Ten,
are increasingly made on location in Britain, and are drawing
mainstream audiences.
Lagaan, a £3.5 million film of an 1893 peasant uprising against
colonial rule, included 15 British actors, has played to full houses
in Britain to critical acclaim and was much admired at the Locarno
Film Festival. In September Mira Nair picked up the Golden Lion at the
Venice Film Festival for Monsoon Wedding. And today the most ambitious
film yet, Asoka, opens in the West End — a bravura epic, starring and
produced by India’s screen sensation, Shah Rukh Khan. Indian musicals
may be altogether too clichéd for Western audiences, but Indian music
has made deep inroads into British rock, pioneered by a younger
generation of British Asians. Andrew Lloyd Webber, quick to recognise
a trend, has signed up Asoka’s composer for his forthcoming musical
Bombay Dreams. And British Asians, a rich market for Bollywood, are in
turn influencing the top end of India’s production.
Bollywood will always rely on its local audiences and cannot move too
far from the stock themes of family disputes, arranged marriages,
unrequited love and historical heroes. But the Indian diaspora has
broadened the scope, challenged the stereotypes and brought a Western
critical sensibility that allows Bollywood increasingly to compete
with Western cinema. As with cuisine, fashion and so much else,
Britain’s Asians are taking popular culture into a hybrid originality
that sets new standards here and on the subcontinent.
A song and a dance
First it was cricket, now it's a warlord-turned-peacenik. Derek
Malcolm on how Indian films conquered the west
Guardian
Thursday October 25, 2001
If Bollywood, Bombay's giant film factory, is ever to make it outside
the Indian diaspora, that time is surely now. International success
lights up the eyes of its fat-cat producers, its now slimmed-down
stars see themselves as comparable to those of Hollywood, and its
musicians and playback singers are experimenting with scores that take
in more and more western influences.
The reason for this optimism can be traced to two films - Lagaan,
which dared to make a film about a cricket match and won the audience
award at the Locarno festival, where they don't even know the rules of
the game; and now Asoka, which won plaudits at the Venice festival in
August.
It's a long time since two Bollywood films, each including the
traditional song-and-dance supplements, attracted such attention
outside the Indian community. Could this be the start of something
big?
"No," says Santosh Sivan, the south Indian director of Asoka. "Not
unless we make more westernised films, and a lot of us wouldn't want
to do that for fear of losing our own audiences. Most of our filmgoers
are still based in the villages, not the towns, and they need what we
give them. But at least some of us are trying to subvert the cliches
and attempting to widen our appeal to more sophisticated audiences. We
have some excellent film-makers, and much better technical facilities.
That's a start, but we have a long way yet to go."
Shekhar Kapur, director of Bandit Queen and Elizabeth, who has made
films out of Bombay in his time, agrees. "It's not a question of
making films more like Hollywood. Indian popular cinema has a style
and a tradition of its own which should not be bastardised. I'd love
to make a song-and-dance movie, and I probably will. But we should
look more towards Asia than America. There's a huge audience out there
with its own cinematic traditions. It's becoming more powerful. India
should lead the way there, not try to ape Hollywood."
Sivan, who comes from Trivandrum in Kerala, is not your obvious
Bollywood alumnus. He graduated from India's Film Institute at Pune
and, after working as a cinematographer, got a few friends together to
make The Terrorist in 1998. This cheaply made story of a young woman
prepared to lose her life in order to kill her political prey looks,
for obvious reasons, even more relevant now than it did then.
The film was shown at numerous festivals, including London, and was
espoused as a "mini-masterpiece" by American actor John Malkovich, who
presented it in the US. It was also seen by Shah Rukh Khan, one of
India's most popular and bankable stars, who agreed to help finance
and star in the new film, taking the lead role of Asoka.
"I was dancing in a train for a song in a movie that Sivan was
lensing, and he came up to me between shots and told me about Asoka,"
says Khan. "I could only understand half of what he said but I could
see the determination in his eyes, and that, somehow or other, he
would make it with or without me. That's 80% of the battle won. I was
hooked."
Asoka tells the story of the emperor of the Mauryan dynasty who
massacred thousands before becoming a peacenik Buddhist monk. "Asoka
was then just a name to me," says Khan, "but every child in India
knows it. His wheel is on our flag and his seal is on our currency.
Sivan has taken a true, historical subject, added his spice and come
up with one of the best fairy tales ever to be made in Indian cinema."
While Lagaan was made at considerable expense, Asoka had only a
moderate budget. Sivan says he didn't want any special effects, and no
digitally augmented crowds. "I just wanted to tell a good story, of a
warlike emperor who gave up everything for his faith. And I
deliberately made the film in Bollywood style with songs and dances.
We've cut some of them out for Europe, but the whole thing remains
absolutely a Bombay movie. It's not an art movie, as The Terrorist was
characterised. It's for the people, so you can laugh sometimes and
believe in myth and romance."
Sivan doesn't intend to become a full-time Bollywood director. In fact
his favourite film-maker is Tarkovsky. He'd like to be the Indian
Stephen Frears, making small and big films depending on the
subject-matter.
If Asoka is successful, he'll have the power to do so - although he
says it's often easier to make a film with little money than with a
big budget. Meanwhile, Bollywood - a word the Hindi film world doesn't
like because it demeans the great directors, stars and musicians that
have worked there - waits expectantly. If Langaan and Asoka start a
trend in the west, who knows where it could end?
THURSDAY OCTOBER 25 2001
Interview
Indian hope trick
BY STEPHEN DALTON
Bollywood's biggest star is staking all on a Hindi epic
He’s been called the Indian Tom Cruise. Worshipped as a demi-god
across the globe, he excites politely hysterical female lust on
legions of Bollywood websites. When he walks through Brick Lane,
Birmingham or Bradford, bodyguards discreetly in tow, he stops
traffic. He has a range of perfumes named after him and three of his
most recent films have debuted in the British box-office Top 10. And
yet most British cinema fans have never heard of Shah Rukh Khan.
But that is about to change. This articulate, soft-spoken, studiously
charming 35-year-old is holding court in a plush West End hotel,
oiling the promotional wheels for his $3 million period blockbuster
Asoka (see review, left). A legendary warrior king who renounced
violence after uniting India in the 3rd century BC, Asoka towers over
his nation’s history.
Some are predicting that this is the breakthrough Hindi film that will
finally seduce mainstream non-Asian audiences, much as Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon did for Hong Kong costume drama.
But Khan and his fellow producers will be happy just to break even.
“If we lose money, I don’t think we’ll be able to make another film,”
he nods nervously.
“It’s really that serious. Here in the West you have to market it a
certain way. I hope it doesn’t break our back. Otherwise I’ll just go
back to acting.”
Khan was raised by Muslim parents in Delhi, although both died before
his screen stardom blossomed. Despite his religious background, he
feels little personal connection to the war in Afghanistan.
“Not as a Muslim,” he explains, “because I have a Hindu wife. My son
is both Hindu and Muslim now, I think. I may get shot for saying it,
but what disturbs me is that I think both parties are wrong. It is
like two kids fighting over a piece of biscuit. I would smack both
their heads.”
Khan has co-produced films before, but Asoka is his biggest hands-on
project to date. He explains his penchant for creative involvement as
a hangover from his theatre training with expatriate English drama
teacher Barry John: “I always wanted to play a part as a producer, not
only as an actor, because somewhere deep down, very arrogantly, I
think acting comes easy to me.”
Delivered with deadpan confidence, statements like these confirm
Khan’s reputation for unchecked egomania. And yet he mostly talks with
humility and intelligence about the gifts that have made him modern
Bollywood’s biggest male pin-up. He calls his brooding good looks
“unconventional” and cheerfully lists the numerous flops in his
decade-long screen career.
But Asoka will not be among them. With its chaste romance, high-camp
musical numbers and melodramatic acting style, this period fairytale
is aimed squarely at the massive global audience for traditional Hindi
films. But even if its plot is old-fashioned, its high production
values and relatively compact length reflect Indian cinema’s
increasing focus on international markets. Khan admits his core
audience still largely consists of South Asians who want to see him
“dancing in front of Big Ben”, but he is seeking Western converts too.
“Perhaps people here speak a different language, but we’re trying to
say the same thing,” he nods. “I really believe that, because I like
Roman Polanski films, I like Fellini films, I like Spielberg films. I
accept that the president is going to save the world single-handedly
in Air Force One. And that is as outlandish as me dancing on Tower
Bridge. If you can accept that, please accept this.”
Khan freely admits that Asoka is partly designed to sell the exotic
“brand” of India, a “fantasy land of elephants and snakes”, to
non-Asian viewers. But he insists that the traffic between Bollywood
and Hollywood, for so long a one-way street, is beginning to flow both
ways.
“Look at Titanic,” he says, “it’s a Hindi film. Gladiator is a Hindi
film. Woody Allen’s Everyone Says I Love You is beautiful, just like a
Hindi film.
“James Bond always does well in India — that’s a Hindi film. Man, I
want to be James Bond! Please take me as James Bond! The first Indian
James Bond!” Ironically, Khan was tentatively offered a small role in
a recent 007 adventure, but did not pursue it. A few more Western
offers have passed his way, including a remake of Hitchcock’s Dial M
for Murder and an adaptation of Vikram Seth’s novel A Suitable Boy.
But despite speculation that he will be the first Hindi film superstar
to cross over into Hollywood, clashing schedules and a wariness of
stereotyped roles have so far kept him in Bombay.
“I would rather rule in Hell than serve in Heaven,” he smiles. But he
also confesses, “I really don’t know if I’m going to be good enough
for Hollywood, or if I’m going to be accepted there.”
Despite his reputation for arrogance, Khan’s ambitions are modest. “My
logic very humbly is that I would like to make a Hindi film which is
accepted worldwide, as an actor and a producer,” he says. “I’d like
the whole world to see a Hindi film, and accept the fact that from the
next one onwards, a Hindi film gets at least half of a British film
opening — or at even one fourth a British film opening.”
And the tuxedo, the martinis, the Aston Martin? “That would be nice,”
he sighs sadly, “but I don’t really see myself having a realistic
chance of being James Bond.”
Habshi
Habshi
dances from the subtitled version as they are the best part of
Bollywood movies .
Night23
to go before matching Hollywood style historical movies.
LION HALF
India and saped its strengths to stand tall in world. The timing of Ashoka
is bad. India does not need pacifism now. It already had its tryst under
Gandhi but it has not yielded vitality to India. India needs to strenghten
its warrier tradition to restore some balance.
Habshi
RASHMEE Z AHMED
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
ONDON: Asoka, the Bollywood film with Hollywood aspirations,
officially comes to town on Friday, thirsting to break records and
take Hindi cinema into the big league, but it has at least already
crossed the crucial high-water mark of Western media hype.
"I’m not treating it like an Asian film, I’ve employed a proper PR
company and you can see that in the way it’s been treated in the
Western media," Asoka’s UK distributor Martin Myers told The Times of
India.
"They’re not really targetting the Asian media here, I think, to
publicise the film," confirms Sarita Bhatia, editor of
clickwallas.com, Britain’s biggest Asian website.
Adds Hans Petch, producer of BBC domestic television’s respected
weekly programme Film 2001, which is featuring Asoka, "It is
unprecedented because this is the first time that a Bollywood film has
employed a British publicity firm, alongside being released in more
than 80 cinemas".
The results are there for all to see. Asoka’s producer and long-haired
hero, Shah Rukh Khan, has apparently crossed at least one cultural
divide in terms of Western media interest.
Myers points with some satisfaction to Khan’s strategic appearances,
alongside those of director Santosh Sivan, in a clutch of big-name
publications, notably The Times, London and The Guardian. Khan has
also been invited on to several mainstream domestic television and
radio programmes throughout the UK.
More crucially, for London’s white corporate commuters, says Bhatia,
is Asoka’s unusual prominence across the Tube, the network of
underground trains. "Multiple ads have popped up, it’s quite
disconcerting".
Clearly Asoka’s massive publicity investment of at least 150,000
pounds seems to have paid off. Industry marketing sources acknowledge
that Asoka has managed to tell much of the world it exists and is
coming soon to a screen near by. But will the hype translate into the
only real barometer of a film’s success, box office takings and
mainstream approval?
"I hope so", says Myers, "I think it’s a damn good film and should be
seen by everyone, but I’m not stupid, I know the core audience for the
film is Asian".
Myers says he hopes Asoka’s takings are at least two million pounds in
the first four weeks, a figure that would easily dwarf the other
aspirational crossover film, Lagaan, that has so far earned 700,000
pounds and was originally released in just half the number of cinema
halls as Asoka.
But Lagaan’s distributors, Sony Entertainment, claim it set a trend
that Asoka is content follow. "Seventy-five per cent of the cinema
halls where Lagaan is being screened do not normally show Hindi films,
so it was the first crossover film," says Sony’s Preeti Pashwaria.
Myers says he wants more. "Lagaan crossed over a bit, but Asoka is
being released like a Hollywood film, in 84 halls, it should certainly
be the biggest Asian film ever made".
But, there are doubts about whether ‘big’ budgets and marketing should
become Hindi filmdom’s new virility test. "There are problems
associated with Bollywood’s aspirations to crossover," cautions the
BBC’s Petch, "might it lose its soul, might it forget its own
audience?"
Bryan McCollister
watching the extravagant hooplas - growing up in Liverpool sandwiched
between the Guptas and the Varmas it was always some bloody this or that
occasion to watch a Hindu film. I remember a grand old Western style film
called Shlolay back in the 70s - simply fantastic (big bosomed actress).
Mirza Ghalib
be 800,000 strong. Strict punishments were in effect for those
who disturbed the regime.
In short, Ashoka's non-violence can be called a dynamic use of
non-violence, contrasted with Gandhian non-violence which was purely
opassive.
Regarding the movie, from what I have read, it appears to be
utterly superficial. SRK may be good for KKHH, but he is not the
material for Ashoka. Not on my watch list.
LION HALF <half...@home.com> wrote in message news:<3BD7517F...@home.com>...
>
Habshi
Vishal
> was so distressed by all the death and destruction caused that he
> became a Buddhist and sent emissaries to China , South East Asia and
> Sri Lanka and most of eastern Asia became Buddhist as a result .
> However this kind of extremeist non violence laid India open
> to attack from the north west and Hinduism had to come back to India
> to save its culture from extinction .
> Ranjit will fill in more details about this great Emperor of
> India .
By embracing Buddhism Ashoka inflicted the greatest blow to India.
It made the Indian mind very apolgetic to violence, It sowed the seeds
of future Gandhis.
He made us coward...
Jim
there are very few Indians living in Liverpool. Which part of the city
are you referring to? I'm puzzled.
Jay
Bryan McCollister <Bryan.McCollis...@nospam.landmail.com> wrote in message news:<3BD8B1C6...@nospam.landmail.com>...
Michael W. Lancaster
>
> Could you please post how to catch Indian films
> in the States. I miss watching the extravagant
> hooplas - growing up in Liverpool sandwiched
> between the Guptas and the Varmas it was always
> some bloody this or that occasion to watch a
> Hindu film. I remember a grand old Western
> style film called Shlolay back in the 70s -
> simply fantastic (big bosomed actress).
*****
I'm still in Blighty so don't know about TV
channels but you can get Indian films on DVDs.
The cheapest way is to buy them at auctions
(Yahoo or E-Bay) and you can seel them on if
you wish once you've finished with them.
You may wish to consult someone on which film(s)
to buy if you are not familiar with Bollywood.
One thing's for sure: nothing Hollywood can make
could ever compete with many Indian movies.
Michael
--
Reply-To: mlancaster--at--btinernet.com (replace --at-- with @)
Any direct mailing without my explicit prior approval to that effect
will be considered spam and the poster's network administrators shall be
notified accordingly.
Srivatsan Seshadri
Bryan McCollister wrote:
> Could you please post how to catch Indian films in the States. I miss
> watching the extravagant hooplas - growing up in Liverpool sandwiched
> between the Guptas and the Varmas it was always some bloody this or that
> occasion to watch a Hindu film. I remember a grand old Western style film
> called Shlolay back in the 70s - simply fantastic (big bosomed actress).
LOL! BTW, it is "Sholay". In the States, try any of the Indian grocery stores. Almost all of them
carry Indian Cinema.
cheers,
vatsan
Habshi
Aseem Chhabra in New York
Shah Rukh Khan arrived in New York City on October 25, to promote his
second home production Asoka based on the life and times of the
legendary Mauryan emperor.
And rather in the manner of the monarch he portrays on screen, Shah
Rukh took the city by storm -- being mobbed by a screaming, unruly
crowd of fans some of whom had paid $150 apiece to catch the film’s
premiere.
Hysterical young girls, women, men, even press photographers literally
flung themselves on the Hindi film star when he turned up for the
premiere party at the Reebok Sports Club in Manhattan’s upper west
side. Typical of Bollywood standard time, the star was an hour late,
although the invitation said that the party was to start at '7:00 pm
Sharp'.
Shah Rukh, natty in a black Nehru jacket, managed to smile through it
all, even when his security staff gave up the struggle to control the
fans. The star spent 20 minutes being pushed and shoved around, before
managing to escape through the back door.
Asoka, produced by Shah Rukh’s banner Arclightz and Films Pvt Ltd,
gets the biggest ever release for a Hindi film in the US and Canada,
commonly clubbed together and referred to as the North American
market. The film opens on 68 screens this weekend, according to the
film’s associate executive producer and US distributor Mark Burton. So
far, the honour for the biggest Hindi film opening -- on 59 screens --
belonged to the November 1999 Diwali release Hum Saath Saath Hain.
In the UK, Asoka opens on 80 screens, including in many theaters which
have never played Hindi films in the past. In recent years, major
productions such as Hum Saath Saath Hain, Mohabbatein and Lagaan have
all performed well in the UK market, but in each case was released on
30 screens or less, in theatres that exclusively show Hindi films.
Asoka, a fictionalised account of the life and times of the Mauryan
emperor who renounced war and converted to Buddhism, underlines its
antiwar message by thanking the Dalai Lama in the opening credits.
Shah Rukh, appearing at the premiere that followed the party, at
Manhattan’s Sony IMAX theatre, said he wished that President George W
Bush and suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden could see the film.
This is Shah Rukh’s second appearance in New York to promote the film.
Earlier on September 10, the actor-producer and
director-cinematographer Santosh Sivan, en route to the Toronto Film
Festival, stopped over in New York for a press conference on the
occasion of the release of the film’s soundtrack. On that occasion,
their stay was forcibly extended by several days due to the September
11 terrorist attacks against the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
The premiere was a more controlled version of the chaos of the
premiere party earlier in the day. Shah Rukh was escorted into the
theatre after the lights had been turned off. "Can we have some lights
please," he asked, repeatedly, before the lights were turned back on.
At once, screaming fans made a beeline for the star, but this time
they were unable to get close to him.
Reacting with annoyance when a microphone was pushed too close to his
face, Shah Rukh told the audience, "I want to thank you from the
bottom of my heart for coming for this screening. I believe some of
you are here from New Jersey. Well, I have traveled all the way from
Bombay for this evening."
The star had earlier stopped over in London for two premieres, on
October 23 and 24.
"I have come here in the past with other films, some of them were bad,
but you liked them," he told the audience. "We are a small market in
Bombay, but whenever we hear that our films are doing well overseas,
we know it is because of you."
He thanked the audience for spending $150 apiece to attend the film
premiere. "I hope the film is worth it," he said. "I know that the
cause is."
According to the organisers, net proceeds from the premiere will be
donated to Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund, a charity created to
help the children and spouses of victims of the September 11 attack on
the World Trade Center.
Before he left, Shah Rukh emphasized the need to control the menace of
video and DVD piracy of Hindi films. "Your being here means that you
like to watch films in cinema halls," he said. "Please do not watch
the film on a pirated DVD. And guys, the girls look a lot sexier on
the big screen!"
Habshi
Photos on rediff,com
http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2001/oct/27ashok.htm
Asoka stirs up the historians
Imran Khan in Bhubaneswar
Historians in Orissa -- formerly known as Kalinga -- were unanimous
in criticising actor-producer Shah Rukh Khan's Friday (October 26)
release Asoka.
"Asoka is a vulgar film. Calling it historical is an insult to the
term historical film, because it portrays a story at variance with the
reality of those days," says eminent historian M N Das.
Das, an internationally renowned expert on Emperor Ashoka and his
conquest of Kalinga, said that a figure of such historical importance
should not have been distorted in a bid to make easy money.
The film has Shah Rukh Khan playing the title role while Kariena
Kapoor portrays Kalinga princess Kaurwaki.
Director Santosh Sivan, say experts, has ignored history and, instead,
concocted a romantic story which is a distortion of the actual history
of that period.
"There is enough evidence to show that Kaurwaki was never a Kalinga
princess," says Das. "Rather, she was a fisherman's daughter who
converted to Buddhism. She became a sanyasin. Following Ashoka's
conversion to Buddhism, he married her and made her his queen."
Kaurwaki, points out Das, has, in fact, been immortalised in the
Queen Edict (one of Ashoka's many edicts carved on pillars throughout
his kingdom), wherein the Mauryan emperor clearly states that he was
changing his lifestyle "on the advise of my queen Kaurwaki." Ashoka
further states, says Das, that on her advise, he was embarking on a
series of welfare measures for the people.
Blasting the filmmakers for not doing adequate research and for
trivialising the history of the period, Das said that the objective of
a historical film should be to educate even as it entertains. "Look at
the historical films from Hollywood, which while dramatising the
events, makes it a point to stick to the facts," the historian says.
Das points out that Ashoka is no ordinary historical figure, but one
whose relevance to India today is pronounced, not merely in the
message of non-violence that typefies his life, but also in the fact
that his symbol, the wheel, has a permanent place on the national flag
while his lion seal is the national emblem.
Thus, argues the historian, taking liberties with his story should be
condemned strongly.
Das, who is a Congress member of the Rajya Sabha, says he is surprised
that the Censor Board approved the film. "I would like to know from
Prime Minister (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee, from Home Minister (Lal
Kishinchand) Advani and from Information Minister Sushma Swaraj how
this film was passed by the censors."
Habshi
Habshi
Shah Rukh Khan's Asoka starring the Khan himself, directed and shot by
internationally acclaimed Santosh Sivan, captures the life and times
of the great historical figure Asoka, who underwent a radical change
and embraced Buddhism at the pinnacle of success.
Shah Rukh's first attempt at production, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani,
with Juhi Chawla, was a damp squib at the box office. And he has left
no stone unturned in making Asoka a lavish affair.
The film has already been screened at several foreign film festivals.
The music of Asoka has a rhythm and life of its own as it recreates a
heady mix of powerful sensuousness. The credit goes to the team of
Aks, which returns to cast its spell in Asoka.
The team has the likes of composer Anu Malik (who could easily pass
off as A R Rahman, had it not been specified in the inlay card), music
arranger Ranjit Barot and poet Gulzar.
The album comprises six tracks and one theme music.
It starts off on a high voltage, dramatic note with Alka Yagnik and
Hema Sardesai in pursuit of their Prince Charming in San sanana. THe
high point of this song is the interesting use of the mridang.
Sensuality casts its spell in Raat ka nasha, repeated twice in the
album. An immensely engaging track, picturised on Kareena Kapoor (who
plays a tribal girl in the film, which explains her wild, exotic look,
replete with kohl and tattoos).
Also, a word of appreciation for Chitra in the solo version and the
duet with Abhijeet.
Roshni se follows -- a rich composition, which includes some awesome
Buddhist chanting and the intriguing vocal chemistry between Abhijeet
and Alka Yagnik. s
O re kanchi captures the earthy feel of Oriya music, in addition to
some funky drumbeats and the enthusiastic vocals of Shaan and Alka
Yagnik.
Sandeep Chowta, who scored soulful theme pieces in Satya and Jungle,
conjures another ace with Asoka. The theme piece is surreal and
poetic, with appropriate use of the flute, violins and sitar.
Sunidhi Chauhan storms the speakers with Aa tayar joja, a fast-paced,
upbeat track that promises to grow on you after a couple of hearings.
In a nutshell, Asoka rocks. Whether it will go down in history or not,
it remains to be seen.
ALSO READ:
Habshi
Vishal
> Ashoka's pacifism and non-violence was backed by an army said to
> be 800,000 strong. Strict punishments were in effect for those
> who disturbed the regime.
Ashoka should be removed from our history books or at least
he should be severly criticised for introducing pacifism in Indian mind.
I doubt whether he was brave, after all he was a Bihari(Maghadi).
He went and finished the tribals of Kalinga who must have been still eating
mango kernels and then he became a pacifist.
It all looks artificial.
Sandar
> he should be severly criticised for introducing pacifism in Indian mind.
> I doubt whether he was brave, after all he was a Bihari(Maghadi).
> He went and finished the tribals of Kalinga who must have been still eating
> mango kernels and then he became a pacifist.
> It all looks artificial.
After he became a Bhuddist, Asoka detested wars and human sufferings
(caused out of greed and power) but in no way he became a pacifist; he
kept his empire intact, keeping an eye on all possible rebellions;
it's rather the leaders who replaced him after his death who didn't
have the skill needed to .....
Sydney Assbasket
>dances from the subtitled version as they are the best part of
>Bollywood movies .
>
They cut the songs from "Fire," I believe, for the US distribution. Did they
do the same thing with "Asoka"?
________________________________________________________________
The Indian DVD Resource: http://www.fly.to/indiadvd
What happens when you delete the Recycle Bin?
"Gay" is not a synonym for "bad."
Remove "bination" to reply.
shampa shilpa shetty shan
Sydney Assbasket wrote in message
<20011029002334...@mb-da.aol.com>...
>>It would be extremely silly if they cut out the songs and
>>dances from the subtitled version as they are the best part of
>>Bollywood movies .
>>
>
>They cut the songs from "Fire," I believe, for the US distribution. Did
they
>do the same thing with "Asoka"?
there were songs in Fire?
she is making a movie in Canada now, I believe, and it has songs.
Sydney Assbasket
>they
>>do the same thing with "Asoka"?
>
>
>there were songs in Fire?
>
>she is making a movie in Canada now, I believe, and it has songs.
>
It might have been "Earth."
Habshi
By Debi Pattnaik
Bhubaneswar
The magnificent lion capital of emperor Ashoka as the national emblem
of india has long seeped into the nation's consciousness yet the image
of the emperor himself had remained shrouded amid the ruins of his
vast empire.
Now archaeologists in Orissa claim to have unearthed images of Ashoka,
carved in sandstone. The two images, with some inscriptions on the
obverse, were found during excavations at an ancient Buddhist site
atop the Langudi hill in Orissa's Jajpur district.
The discovery has assumed significance as so far no individual images
of Ashoka, dating back to the third century bc, has been traced at any
of the sites associated with his kingdom. The two magnificent images
were found at the entrance of the Buddhist stupa earlier uncovered by
archaeologists on langudi hill during an excavation by the Orissa
institute of maritime and south east asian studies (OIMSEAS).
According to OIMSEAS president and Orissa minister of state for
tourism and culture Bijayashree Routray, the inscriptions on these
images, deciphered by two eminent epigraphists of the country,
indicated the name of Ashoka. A visiting delegation of Buddhist monks,
who were touring important sites in the state, was informed about the
discovery.
Langudi hill is already known as the seat of the Puspagiri Vihar which
finds mention in Chinese piligrim Hieun Tsang's account during his
visit to Udra (now Orissa) during 639 ad. A systematic excavation by
the OIMSEAS since 1996 in the hill had also revealed the existence of
Ashokan pillars, stupas and Terracotta seals from the Buddhist
monastery. (UNI)
Habshi
Kalinga is praised as a democratic state which Asoka conquered with
great cruelty and all this is true ,
As for Kareena wearing very little , that is true of all
females in hot countries except in Islamic ones , as too much heat and
excessive clothes fry the brain . And in the world fampus Sun temple
in Orrisa one can see all sorts of sex poses , so preIslamic India was
not prudish.
Habshi
rediff.com
SRK, Karriena effigies burnt
Imran Khan in Bhubaneshwar
An effigy of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, the actor-producer of the
recently released Asoka, was burnt in Bhubaneshwar, the capital city
of Orissa, today.
An effigy of the film's actress Karriena Kapoor, who played the role
of a Kalinga princess, was also burnt in front of a cinema hall, where
the film was being screened.
The agitated activists of the socio-cultural organisation, Kalinga
Sena, burnt the effigies, objecting to the portrayal of Emperor
Ashoka, who was depicted as the self-styled saviour of Kalinga, modern
day Orissa. "It is our protest against the distortion of history of
Kalinga and assassination of a historical figure by producers for easy
money," said Sena president Hemant Rath.
The Sena has also demanded a ban on the film.
It may be recalled that historians, social activists and the former
speaker of the Orissa Assembly had raised their objection to the
distortion of history in Asoka.
About 100 activists of the Kalinga Sena gathered in front of Swati
cinema hall in the heart of city before the noon show of the film
began. The activists shouted slogans in Hindi and Oriya against Khan
and the film's director Santosh Sivan. The film was released last week
and is doing well here.
The Sena activists held banners and cards which read: "Asoka is
anti-Kalinga propaganda by its producer and writer', 'The film has
distorted history', 'It's not history, it's humiliation of a nation'.
"Our demonstration was to register protest against the film," a
Kalinga Sena activist said.
"We are also planning to demonstrate at several other movie halls in
the state where the film is released," Rath, who is also president of
the State Trinamul Congress, said.
The activists also tore the film's posters and rushed into the theatre
complex to stop the screening. However, the show went on with out any
disturbances, the talkies manager Deba Prasad said.
The police had been anticipating trouble. They were informed of the
demonstrations. "We have not arrested anyone because it was a peaceful
demonstration. Nobody has complained against it," a city police
official said.
Shah Rukh Khan plays the lead role of King Ashoka, while Karriena
Kapoor plays Kaurwaki, princess of the ancient kingdom Kalinga. Those
who oppose the film allege that director Sivan has not given enough
importance to the historical background of the period.
The film gives credit to Kaurwaki for Ashoka's change of heart. It
says he turned pacifist because of Kaurwaki's love, which is not true.
"I do not know how the Censor Board approved the film," Dr M N Das,
the only Indian historian who has researched the Kalinga war, said.
Sivan's film has Ashoka lose his heart to Kalinga princess Kaurwaki.
Historical evidence however reveals that Kaurwaki was not a princess
at all. "If she was a princess, then who was the king?" Das, a Rajya
Sabha member of the Congress party, asks. "There is enough evidence
only to suggest that she was a Buddhist woman from Kalinga who guided
Ashoka to Buddhism."
Former speaker Yudhister Das has also demanded ban on the screening of
the film.
ALSO READ:
Asoka stirs up the historians
The Myth, The Truth -- Asoka
Habshi
rattihalli kuttan
Thanks in advance.
"Habshi" <hab...@anony.com> wrote in message
news:2piiutoebkpipoub8...@4ax.com...
Habshi
Sandar
> I'm still in Blighty so don't know about TV
> channels but you can get Indian films on DVDs.
> The cheapest way is to buy them at auctions
> (Yahoo or E-Bay) and you can seel them on if
> you wish once you've finished with them.
> You may wish to consult someone on which film(s)
> to buy if you are not familiar with Bollywood.
> One thing's for sure: nothing Hollywood can make
> could ever compete with many Indian movies.
>
> Michael
Proof that you are Indian ethnically!
Michael W. Lancaster
>> "Michael W. Lancaster" wrote in message
>
>> I'm still in Blighty so don't know about TV
>> channels but you can get Indian films on DVDs.
>> The cheapest way is to buy them at auctions
>> (Yahoo or E-Bay) and you can seel them on if
>> you wish once you've finished with them.
>> You may wish to consult someone on which film(s)
>> to buy if you are not familiar with Bollywood.
>> One thing's for sure: nothing Hollywood can make
>> could ever compete with many Indian movies.
>
*****
I take it you are not a lawyer then.