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Asoka has a lot going for it – two attractive and appealing leads, a fairly involving love story, some great moments of action and a few well-choreographed battle sequences (though pretty bloodless), and a smattering of India’s culture and history amid lush locales. What almost puts the kaibosh on it all is the film’s insistence on spinning off into a distinctly modern-sounding song and dance number every twenty minutes. One minute we’ve got ancient warriors clashing swords together, the next, a bunch of scantily-clad women “shakin’ dat azz” like extras in a Shakira video.

Anyone who has seen Bollywood films (and I’ll admit, I’ve seen precious few) knows that the Indian people love musicals. If you ever stumble upon an Indian film on cable, chances are you’re going to see some singing and dancing in the next fifteen minutes. In all fairness, the musical numbers aren’t bad. The fact that they are populated by beautiful, bare-bellied Indian ladies certainly doesn’t hurt. And while the lyrics are generally as bland as any western heavy-rotation R&B love song (if the subtitles are any indication), the music is pretty infectious, and the dancing is fantastic. There’s only a couple of problems.

1)having the characters burst into a distinctly modern-sounding music video segment tends to yank the viewer right out of the historical period the film is supposed to take place in.

2)They tend to go on. And on. And. On.

Still, it’s easy to fast forward through them, and what lies between this filler is a pretty good tale about Prince Asoka (Shahrukh Khan), a legendary figure in Indian history. Known as a cunning warrior, Asoka is forced to contend with his scheming half-brother Virat (Danny Denzongpa) who desires the throne for himself and sends assassins after the prince with increasing tenacity. Asoka, however, has foiled all of these attempts on his life, and is about to make his move and eliminate Virat. However, his mother fears that if he tries to unseat Virat, he will be killed in the attempt. She convinces him to forsake his designs on the throne and flee the court, pursuing the life of a wanderer instead. With reluctance, Asoka does so.

While traveling in the wilderness, he comes across a beautiful maiden bathing in a waterfall (insert musical number here). Eventually, after countless attempts to woo her, he learns that she is the Princess Kaurwaki (the stunning Kareena Kapoor) , who has fled the palace of a neighboring state with her little brother and a trusted general after a coup. Asoka vows to accompany and protect them, but when he is separated from his beloved Kaurwaki, and later comes to believe that she and her brother have been killed by assassins, he allows his grief to turn to rage. Asoka returns home to seize the throne and begin a long and brutal campaign to conquer the various fiefdoms of India. Eventually, he arrives with an army at the borders of Kaurwaki’s homeland – unaware that she is alive and has since been restored to power, and is preparing her people, both men and women, to take up arms against the invader. Alas, she is unaware that the invading horde is led by her former lover, since he never told her his real name in order to hide his identity as a prince.

In addition to the aforementioned lush locales, flourishing action scenes, quite a few well-timed comedic moments, and a better than average tale of star-crossed lovers, what really breathes life into Asoka is the cast – especially the two leads. ShahRukh Khan has the smoldering good looks and the charisma to make the prince a vibrant and dynamic character. And as for Kareena Kapoor – well, she’s gorgeous, she can sing, she can dance, she can act, and she even handles herself pretty well during the battle scenes. There are other noteworthy performances as well. Dezongpa is quite satisfactory as the cocksure and backstabbing Virat. Hirshita Baatt plays Devi, the beautiful Buddhist girl who takes care of Asoka when he is injured after the loss of Kaurwaki, and whom he later marries to save her honor after she is spurned by her fiancee’ in an arranged marriage. And Rahul Dev gives a stalwart portrayal of Bheema, the loyal general who is also in love with Kaurwaki, but dares not show it.

Laughter, tears, fighting, loving, singing, dancing – you’ll certainly get your money’s worth quantity-wise should you decide to rent ASOKA. And while some of the musical segues could have just as well ended up on the editing room floor, I’ve sat through worse things than Kareena Kapoor shaking her bootay.

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originally posted: 07/15/03 15:14:51
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