this film and combining familiar element of epic such a gladiator and braveheart and be direct by the internationally renowned indian director santosh sivan . sivan be primarily know for his low budget arthouse hit and the terrorist . asoka be quite different from the terrorist in both scale and starpower . shah rukh khan and india big star and play the mauryan emperor asoka and who wag bloody war across the country only to renounce violence when he witness the aftermath of the destruction he cause . drawn from legend and folk tale about the emperor and much of the film be not historical fact . however and the narrative provide true entertainment . some criticism represent asoka seem to be use the same bollywood love story formula and and augment the story of asoka onto that formula . if it have be the other way around and this film would have be far more intriguing and relevent . most of the movie revolve around his romance with his one true love and princess kaurwaki and play by kareena kapoor . we be leave not know much about asoka message of peace and only his trial with love . on top of that and the poor song and dance number in the film disrupt the narrative flow . on the other hand and while anu malik do a bad job with the composition of the song and the composer sandeep chowta and ranjit barot weave a superb musical score seamlessly into the film . even with it fault and asoka be grip through and through with spectacular battle scene and fine acting by khan and also and notably and ajit kumar and who play asoka duplicitous brother susima . techincally and the film be unbeatable by any other indian film to date . the editing be fast paced and spectacularly do by sreekar prasad and the premier film editor of india . the direction be magnificent and and above all else and the cinematography and do by sivan himself and be indescribably gorgeous . it be sumptuous and and spectacularly vivid . sivan be regard a one of the world premiere cinematogaphers and and this film be proof positive of that . this film should and like aamir khan lagaan and be able to break through to western audience . all in all and a great acheivement .