Thursday, October 26, 2006



AŠOKA AND THE ASHES

I just saw ‘Ašoka’. Shah Rukh Khan is flaming HOT in this movie. Why did no-one tell me this?Oh my gosh, he is just so delish, so scrummy, so… sigh. And the way he handles that sword of his… UNBELIEVABLE. I love him in many movies, but I think his cuteness factor in ‘Ašoka’ is through the roof. But I say the very same thing after watching a lot of SRK movies…

Hot smiling (sort of)...


Still hot scowling...


I’ve stayed away from ‘Ašoka’ for a long time, because I’m always a bit suspicious of movies that are always in the Bargain basement on Amazon.co.uk, Play.com and the theHut.co.uk (which is where I get a lot of my Bollywood DVDs. The ‘Beliefs, Blackness and Bollywood’ blog (see, Sheetal, I can do it, bahut bahut shukriya!!) has just turned me on to Nehaflix, and I’m not sure whether to thank t-hype or not for unwittingly showing me another place to spend money! – but I digress. Nehaflix is cool, though). Anyway, ‘Ašoka’ was always cheaper than other movies on my ‘regular’ websites (although, to be fair, so was ‘Monsoon Wedding’ and I really liked it), so I thought it just might not be very good. And the reviews I read on different sites were a mixed bag.

But I am SOOO glad I got this film. Apart from the fact that SRK is the very hotness in this movie:


it’s quite a good film. The fight scenes are really nicely shot, good cinematography, nice sets, good costumes, really well-produced. There are one or two discordant notes – some of the music is too ‘modern’ for the film, for example; but altogether it’s really solid and praiseworthy, as far as Bollywood productions go.

For those not in the know, in ‘Ašoka’, Shah Rukh Khan plays Prince Ašoka, a very brave (and according to SRK’s version, tres sexy) ancient prince. Kareena Kapoor plays an ancient warrior princess, Kaurwaki. Ašoka and Kaurwaki are both victims of power struggles, and they are also from enemy kingdoms. And so, naturally, a lot of ‘stuff’ happens – political intrigues, family tensions, divided loyalties fighting, and of course… prem. Kareena Kapoor is a pleasant surprise in this film. I almost despised her after watching her performance as ‘Poo’ in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. But here she is solid. Her acting in ‘Ašoka’ really cannot be criticised, she steps up to the plate and does a very good job in a pivotal role. I actually liked her strong but emotional and nuanced performance in ‘Ašoka’. Now I’m forced to acknowledge that Bebo actually is a good actress (so what happened in K3G?).

Random thought: the cute little Prince Arya (Kareena’s character’s brother) is played by an adorable kid. He looks especially sweet dancing with SRK in one of the musical numbers.

‘Ašoka’ is a good watch… I enjoyed it.

And now for the piece de resistance (my favourite SRK shot in this movie):


Gotcha!!

16 comments:

Sheetal said...

I have been sitting with the DVD of Asoka for way too long now. I think it's high time I watch it, don't you? The songs are stunning, but now I want to sit back and watch the movie.

I enjoyed reading this post :>

Daddy's Girl said...

Hi, Sheetal! Yes yes, please watch it, and let me know what you think.

Beth Loves Bollywood said...

OH yes, Sheetal, watch it! It's one of my favorites. Just so entertaining and cool cool cool. And I so agree, DG, that Sharukh is tres hot in this one and that Kareena can, when she puts her mind to it, act. For me, Kareena is like that old saying: when she's good, she's very very good, but when she's bad, she's horrid (K3G, MPKDH,etc).

Daddy's Girl said...

I like that, Beth - Kareena as "the girl with a curl right in the middle of her forehead". What's MPKDH? Been trying to figure it out...

Sheetal said...

By MPKDH, I think Beth is referring to "Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon" also starring Hrithik Roshan & Abishek Bachan.

...that was a bad movie :(

Daddy's Girl said...

Thanks Sheetal!

Uzo said...

Okay....Where on earth do u get your movies? And how do u get them to Nigeria? Please share the secret so i can go online right now and order a few.

I have to say i havent seen Asoka for the same reason u didnt watch it. It was always on sale. Way down on sale so i just assumed it was crappy....Now i want it....

Daddy's Girl said...

Hey Uzo, I'm going to send you an email on that one. If I were to answer it here, it'd be a mighty long comment. Asoka is really good, I was pleasantly surprised! Have a good week.

LondonBuki said...

I saw Asoka in 2002... I had been a bit sceptical about the New Indian Movies but this one I enjoyed!!!

Ms. May said...

I remeber when I first saw this movie. It was in London, summer of 2003. It was on late night on one of the TV channels. It was a long movie but I was riveted. Loved it!

Biodun said...

ur a real fan o, a whole blog dedicated to someone, niceeeee

Daddy's Girl said...

Hey Ms. May, how are you doing? Nice to know you stopped by. Enjoy the rest of your week!

@Biodun: Hey, how are you? Enjoying your week so far? I call myself a Dharmendra fan but I have only seen 4 of his movies (out of over 200!)- so I'm a pretty pitiful fan! I'm working on fixing that though. But due to the fact that I need to get more info the guy and his work, this blog has morphed into a general 'Bollywood blog'. I post reviews of movies, cool Bollywood related info, stuff like that, here. By the way, I absolutely love that picture of yours.. very cute.

Daddy's Girl said...

@londonbuki: Some of the new Indian stuff is really crappy, I like a lot of the older stuff more - but there's some good new stuff out as well. I know you have a VERY full life, but let me know if you're interested in checking a couple out. I can recommend (Uzo can too - as you know, she's got great taste).

Anonymous said...

I still haven't seen this one! I'll have to add it to my list...

Maja said...

Ooh! I caught a bit of Asoka on TV 4 or 5 months ago, but it was dubbed into German and I was so tired that I couldn't make any sense of it, so I gave up and went to bed. But I have it on DVD now and guess what, I got it in a sale too! Haven't watched it yet, but I'm looking forward to it :)

Daddy's Girl said...

@t-hype: Yay! You've seen it now... and you liked it!

@maja: Let us know what you think...