Indian television channel Colors announced on Saturday, October 4 that they will be launching a new TV serial soon, based on the life of the third century BC emperor, Ashoka. The serial will be titled “Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat.” The series will be written by author Ashok Banker, well known for his mythological book series Ramayana. Banker will be returning to script writing after almost 20 years. The serial will be produced by Contiloe Entertainment, and marks the first large-scale production on the life of the emperor.
Ashoka is recognized as the first known emperor in Indian history, who built on the Mauryan Empire carved out by his grandfather Chandragupta Maurya, to build an empire that stretched across much of the Indian subcontinent, including parts of present-day India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Ashoka is also famous for shunning the path of non-violence after a bloody battle with the Kalinga Kingdom, when he met a Buddhist monk, who spoke to him about ahimsa, dhyana, and the eight-fold path of Buddha. The monk is said to have answered questions on what is karma, and about good and bad actions and the law of reincarnation of repeated cycles of birth and death.
Commenting on the show, Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, “Nothing gives us more joy than recreating history by narrating the story of one of the greatest rulers of India. We are currently in the initial stages of production where the lion just can’t wait to roar. All the splendor and majesty of this great emperor will come alive on this extraordinary series as we promise to take our viewers through important chapters in Indian history. Further, the show’s concept and universal appeal is bound to entice our marketers and advertisers while creating multiple avenues to enable us to reach out to our collective target audiences”.