King Ashoka

[sabaijai]

King Ashoka

13th May 2007 21.36 IST

By Aparajita Ghosh

Indian actor Ajay Devgan is set to play king Ashoka in a film to be directed by Rajkumar Santoshi.

Santoshi has been doing extensive research on Ashoka, who became an emperor sometime between 269-264 BC and extended his empire through a series of battles before converting to Buddhism and non-violence (after the bloody Kalinga war).

Ashoka’s life has previously fascinated Shah Rukh Khan who made the movie Asoka with Santosh Sivan a couple of years back.

But Santoshi insists his Ashoka would be different. It will create a life sketch of the emperor from the Kalinga war to his conversion to Buddhism.

To play the lead role, Santoshi is relying on his most trusted actor Ajay Devgan, with whom he has just completed his next movie Halla Bol .

Apparently, Devgan is pretty impressed with Santoshi’s thorough research and the final script of the film.

The movie’s title has still not been finalized. Santoshi also hasn’t zeroed in on Devgan’s heroine in the movie. However, Loveleen Baines has been roped in to do costumes, Vikram Gaekwad for make-up, and Hemant Chaturvedi for cinematography.

The film is likely to go on the floors in August and be completely shot before the end of 2007. The movie will be shot in Leh, Laddakh, Thailand and Laos.

from http://www.apunkachoice.com/scoop/bollywood/20070513-1.html