There have been so many historical themed shows on Indian television but none has been so unrealistic. First and foremost the makers have only misused the name of one of the greatest emperors of India - Samraat Ashoka. The story of the show is not only historically inaccurate but also far more fictional than even Hatim Tai or other imaginary folk tales. The makers of show didn't bother to research the life of Ashoka the great and inserted characters and events processed in their own minds. eg. Ashoka was born in the Mauryan Palace and lived there as a child along with his mother Dharma but in the show young Ashoka and his mother live in a countryside village. Creators have failed to maintain chronological consistency as well. eg. Emperor Chandragupta Maurya was alive until Ashoka was about 7 years old but in the show he is shown to be dead long ago.
Secondly, the writers have failed to write the characters and the storyline, which even if not true to history, could have been true to rationality. Things like occult and black magic, immunity to lethal venom, masked vigilante etc. have been unnecessarily added and tend to take the story away from reality. Yet the story is boring and predictable and moves ahead in a sloppy manner.
Apart from these major anomalies in the story, casting and production value are not impressive at all. Siddharth Nigam needs to be lauded for his portrayal of young Ashoka. Sameer Dharmadhikari and Manoj Joshi have played Emperor Bindusara and Chanakya respectively and both have done their job quite well. They are the saving grace of the show. Other actors are not good enough. Set is commendable and costumes are good though not authentic. The presentation of characters, however, is heavily inspired from popular TV series Game Of Thrones. eg. Sushima resembles Prince Joffery Baratheon, Dastaan resembles Khal Drogo etc. VFX is below average. Fight sequences are exaggerated as seen in a lot of contemporary movies but the show's creators are clever enough to utilize the agility and athletic prowess of Siddharth Nigam, who is a national level gold medalist in gymnastics.
Also, the show is biased towards Ashoka and Sushima is portrayed as sadistic and narcissistic. Actually, Ashoka was a much more fierce and ruthless warrior than Sushima since childhood, as evident from the historical records of that period.
The show gets 1 star for casting Siddharth Nigam, Sameer Dharmadhikari and Manoj Joshi in their respective roles and another star for beautiful set design. Had it been a mythological show, creative liberties could have been granted to a vast extent. But with a historical show there are limitations over creative liberties. The show has everything except truth. This show may appeal to some people who love cheesy entertainment. But if you hope to obtain knowledge about Emperor Ashoka's life you will be disappointed. Old TV Shows like The Sword Of Tipu Sultan, Bharat - Ek Khoj, Chanakya, The Great Maratha etc. have set a benchmark in historical drama genre which yet another show of the new generation fails to attain.
