Exclusive | Colors all set with Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat...!

As it is believed in the Indian broadcasting space that if the investment in content is right then the shows on its own can build a connect with its audiences. Colors, right from the time of its launch has always experimented with different genre and unusual storylines. In their quest to catch the attention of the viewers the channel is now all geared up to launch another masterpiece from its bouquet of offerings.

After three and a half years (after Veer-Shivaji), Colors is all geared up to launch one of its most expensive and biggest historical offering of the year, Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat which is the creation of one of  the sharpest  minds in the entertainment industry . The show brings together some well-known faces from the industry and some outstanding technicians.

Produced by Contiloe Productions, the show has been extensively shot in various exotic locales across the country. A mammoth set with intricate designs which are reminiscent of that era have been put together at ND Studios, Karjat by two incredibly gifted designers, Omung Kumar and Nitin Desai. The opulent Mauryan era will be brought alive through the use of high-end VFX technology to make the overall viewing experience more engaging and entertaining for viewers. 

Alleged to be one of the expensive properties, the show has been sold at a premium with an ad-rate of (approx) 1.50/1.80 lakhs per ten seconds which is set to alter depending upon the shows’ journey. Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat sees the channel putting in all possible efforts to produce the best historical show in the Indian television space. Adgully with an aim to get deeper insights, caught up with Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors and Abhimanyu Singh, CEO, Contiloe who spoke about the intricacies of the show and much more.

With Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat, the channel aims to take the Indian audience beyond the confines of history books to narrate the never told saga of Emperor Ashoka for the first time on television.

Nayak said, “We have been toying with this idea since long as we wanted to launch something that breaks the clutter and stands tall as one of the marquee shows in the historical genre. While the television space has had a lot of shows in this genre but nobody had ever experimented with Ashoka and we hope that the visually rich scene-setter, epic sets and renowned cast provide the audience with a new perspective into one of our most magnificent projects in recent times.”

ChakravartinAshokaSamrat brings together a powerful ensemble cast which includes Siddharth Nigam (Ashoka), PallaviSubhash (Dharma), Sameer Dharmadhikari (Bindusara), Manoj Joshi (Chanakya), TejSapru (SeleucusNicator), Suzanne Bernert (Helena), SumitKaul (Justin), and Ankita Sharma (Noor Khorasan) among others.

Colors has been known for using high impact properties to market their shows and creating the necessary buzz. The team has devised an elaborate and high impact reach-driven marketing strategy for this show too. Amplifying the thought ‘Yeh Woh Raja Hai Jiska Sikka Aaj Bhi Chalta Hai’, a special School Contact Program will be executed in close to 200 schools in 50 towns in Tier II markets where young students will, in an interactive way, learn about Emperor Ashoka and his life. A first-time innovation with the Mumbai Metro will have tokens being converted to coins from Ashoka’s Mauryan Empire for the duration of 1 week. The campaign will further engage viewers through platforms such as cable and television, print, DTH, and OOH at multiple touch points.

Apart from that the channel has designed a special treat for television viewers and gaming enthusiasts. A 3D adventure-based shooter game called Ashoka: The Warrior will give players an opportunity to step into the shoes of Emperor Ashoka and fight off enemies and probable assassins before they can cause him any harm. Developed by Vroovy, the Game will be available for download from 28th January. Vroovy-a joint venture between South Asia’s largest Digital Media company; Hungama and India’s largest game service company; Gameshastra.

As creating a historical show is not an easy affair and takes a lot of research and development, when asked Singh on the production value and what went behind while creating this show, he said, “Absolutely it was not an easy job. We have been working passionately behind taking this show on-air. With a lot of research we are able to present a story on the life of India’s greatest ruler, Ashoka. The challenge for us is to make it a spectacle that is authentic yet relatable for today’s evolved viewers. Schedules have been synchronized and camera time has been maximized to ensure on-time delivery for such a large scale production.”

When asked about his expectations from this show, Nayak said, “No one can predict success and failure though but mythology and history are two genres that have always worked well in  television space. These genres work because of the fact that they cater to wide age group of audience.”

The show is set to replace another big property of Colors, Bigg Boss and will air every Monday to Friday at 9:00 PM only on Colors. So on asking whether a weekday and a one hour slot would do justice to the show, Nayak said, “We at Colors are known as trendsetters and would always want to break the conventional style of programming. A show like this would need time to build a connect with its audiences and it would take time to convey the story in the right manner hence a weekday-one-hour slot is perfect for this show.”

Also as it has been seen and observed that historical shows do not always abide by the actual historical facts and production houses take severe creative liberties. Singh here opined that every show needs to be dramatised to an extent and history has to be told in an interesting manner but what matters is the fact that how one correctly fills in the blanks while creating a show.

Young Ashoka’s journey was set in motion when Chanakya set out to look for Bindusara to take over the throne and protect Magadh from the Greek Army General, Seleucus Nicator (TejSapru), his daughter Helena (Suzanne Bernert) and her son Justin (SumitKaul). Being Chandragupta Maurya’s wife, Helena wanted to usurp the throne from her step son, Bindusara and make her own son, Justin the king of Magadh. However, all was not well even upon Bindusara’s return. Magadh’s future remained uncertain with everyone’s thirst for the throne. In an attempt to look for the rightful heir to succeed Bindusara’s reign, Chanakya traced Dharma (PallaviSubhash), Bindusara’s wife and Ashoka (Siddharth Nigam) in the forest and brought them to Magadh. But the transition wasn’t an easy one. Ashoka came to Magadh with a sense of vengeance. His sole purpose was to restore his mother’s honour and secure a spot in the Mauryan Empire for her once it was revealed to him that the King of Magadh, Bindusara was his sire.

A senior media planner on condition of anonymity said it’s a big gamble for the channel  to launch such an expensive historical show .However  he also  opined that the show has been able to create a stir since the promos have gone live for quite some time now. Also it’s a story which has never been told in the television space. What remains to be seen how it can hold the attention of viewers.

As it’s a wait and watch game for now but we at Adgully wish the show, Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat a great success. | By Aanchal Kohli | Twitter: @aanchalkohli