Kaustubh Mone inane dialogue delivery.. most actors barely touch the surface of the characters they play.. song and dance (though some of the songs are very enjoyable and melodious).. nowhere close to the story of the greatest emperor to rule the largest area ever ruled by a subcontinental power - an empire larger than that of Aurangzeb, or the British, or present-day India.. a rather tame tribute this movie is, to the man honoured prolifically by the Republic of India, that chose his symbol as its national symbol after independence.. disappointing movie really.. still, there are some redeeming features - shahrukh khan isn't too bad.. the battle sequences aren't ridiculous.. and the music is probably Anu Malik's best work.. and of course we get gripped by the tale despite it sticking very loosely to the actual historical narrative.. maybe I was expecting too much

IndrajitGhosh I may be a massive fan of Shahrukh Khan. However, I must say Asoka has got to be one of his worst, if not his worst film ever. I think it lacks most things a good film (whether Hollywood or Bollywood) needs to do well.Firstly, I would have to say that the film was really badly scripted and the storyline was very messed up. I am not just saying this because the film did not place emphasis on the love story.Secondly, I would have to say that the acting in the film was atrocious. In fact, I can say that even Shahrukh did not act well in this film. I would not normally say that as Shahrukh is my hero. Kareena Kapoor was also very bad in terms of her acting (I would say the same about her in many of her other films). In addition to the awful acting from the cast, I have to say that Shahrukh and Kareena did not look good together on screen, maybe they could have cast an actress who has a chemistry with Shahrukh (e.g. Kajol, Aishwarya Rai).Thirdly, the songs in the film are not good at all. I can never listen to them, I just find them purely annoying and cheesy.Fourthly, I think the action in this film is terrible. It is fake and frankly some of the worst I have ever seen in a movie.Usually when I watch a movie with Shahrukh Khan, the fact that Shahrukh is in it usually means I will like it. However, even Shahrukh being in Asoka did not make me like it.

Avinash Patalay 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.

winner55 One experience every movie fan hopes for is expecting an okay film going into the viewing and coming out with socks knocked off and feet covered with sweat, having just witnessed a miracle. This happened to me only about four times, with The Seven Samurai, the Wild Bunch, Once Upon a Time in the West and Carnival of Souls; A Clockwork Orange, One-Armed Swordsman, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and The Seventh Seal came pretty close. It is notable that nothing known of these films, their genres, they're filmmakers adequately prepare one for seeing these films. I saw the whole Eastwood trilogy by Sergio Leone, and Once Upon a Time in the West still seemed to loop out of heaven unannounced.I haven't yet decided whether Asoka will join the films that knocked my socks off or those that came pretty close. But there's no doubt this is a film for which considerable preparation will still leave the viewer unprepared.As a recent Indian film, I feared this would be a Hollywoodized Bollywood film; instead it is both pure Bollywood and yet attains a coherence, a vision, a majesty and a purity never before seen in a Bollywood film. director and co-writer Sivan has designed a film absolutely true to the cinematic tradition of its country of origin and yet is composed of only the best of that tradition, emphasized and glorified with cinematography indescribably gorgeous, and given flesh, bone and marrow of substance by performances from young actors easily ranking among the best in world cinema, performances leaving the better performances from Hollywood actors of similar age of the same era buried in the dust of missed opportunities. Because the actors here know exactly what Sivan is doing and know what he expects of them and make every effort to deliver to his expectations.I can only guess that the ridiculously low rating of this film at IMDb is due to the number of those who view this film without previous experience of Bollywood tradition, and who might want the Hollywoodized epic I feared. I hope that continued screenings of this film will prove to all that we have a real miracle at hand here, easily ranking with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as one of the great tragic romances buried in an epic as yet ever made.The almost hallucinogenic visionary quality of the visuals, the remarkable and forceful savvy of the actors, the profound and unsounded depths of the script, the world importance of the subject matter, and the audaciously complex interweaving of all these elements - if this is not the film you were looking for, this is still the film you need to see.When we have time again to choose the classics, this will be high on the list.