Cajun_Blues

This film, combining familiar elements of epics such as Gladiator and Braveheart, is directed by the internationally renowned Indian director Santosh Sivan. Sivan is primarily known for his low-budget arthouse hit, The Terrorist. "Asoka" is quite different from The Terrorist in both scale and starpower. Shah Rukh Khan, India's biggest star, plays the Mauryan Emperor Asoka, who wages bloody wars across the country only to renounce violence when he witnesses the aftermath of the destruction he causes. Drawn from legends and folk tales about the emperor, much of the film is not historical fact. However, the narrative provides true entertainment. Some criticism: "Asoka" seems to be using the same "Bollywood" love story formula, and augmenting the story of Asoka onto that formula. If it had been the other way around, this film would have been far more intriguing and relevent. Most of the movie revolves around his romance with his one true love, princess Kaurwaki, played by Kareena Kapoor. We are left not knowing much about Asoka's message of peace, only his trials with love. On top of that, the poor song and dance numbers in the film disrupt the narrative flow. On the other hand, while Anu Malik does a bad job with the composition of the songs, the composers Sandeep Chowta and Ranjit Barot weave a superb musical score seamlessly into the film. Even with its faults, "Asoka" is gripping through and through with spectacular battle scenes, fine acting by Khan and also, notably, Ajit Kumar, who plays Asoka's duplicitous brother Susima. Techincally, the film is unbeatable by any other Indian film to date. The editing is fast paced and spectacularly done by Sreekar Prasad, the premier film editor of India. The direction is magnificent, and above all else, the cinematography, done by Sivan himself, is indescribably gorgeous. It is sumptuous, and spectacularly vivid. Sivan is regarded as one of the world's premiere cinematogaphers, and this film is proof positive of that. This film should, like Aamir Khan's "Lagaan", be able to break through to western audiences. All in all, a great acheivement.

Mani Ratnam has made so many great films(Nayakan, Agni Natchathiram, Roja, Bombay, etc.,.) over the years. But this masterpiece is what put him in the limelight. Mouna Raagam is a perfect example on how a Indian movie should be made. Along with Roja, I believe that Mouna Raagam is Ratnam's best movie. Mohan and Revathi give brilliant heartfelt performances. Some of their scenes will really make you feel what they're feeling. As great as Mohan and Revathi were, Karthik was the real star of Mouna Raagam. He's on-screen for about 25 minutes and what you see is simply a revelation. His defiant ways, his playful antics towards Revathi will make one wonder why he wasn't in the movie longer. Illyaraja's music is absolutely brilliant, but special mention must go to his BGM. The BGM used in several scenes(especially the Karthik-Revathi scenes)is one of Raja's all-time best.

P.C. Sriram's photography is just the icing on the cake. Mouna Raagam won several national awards, including best film, in 1986. I believe it deserved all the awards it got. A real tamil classic.

I saw this movie on DVD recently and all I can say is "WOW"!!! Ratnam really scored big time when he made this movie about two stepbrothers who hate each other. P.C Sriram's cinematography is absolutely brilliant. It pretty much changed tamil cinema. Prabhu, Amala and the beautiful Nirosha all give great performances. However, Karthik (who gave a memorable supporting turn in Mouna Raagam-another brilliant ratnam movie) gives the best performance in this movie. His role as a street thug really stole the entire movie. I believe he won a filmfare award for it. Rest of the characters also give good performances. Raja's music for the movie is just wonderful. A real classic.