Yesterday saw the premier of the grandest show under the banner of Balaji Telefilms till date, Chandra Nandini. It shows the love story of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya and Nandini. After Colors’ Chakravartin Ashok Samrat, we have another show on the Mauryan dynasty this time on Star Plus.
There have been different narratives of historical sagas like Prithviraj Chauhan, Maharana Pratap and even Jodha Akbar. But a lot less is known about this great Mauryan king, Chandragupta Maurya and even lesser about his love story with Nandini.
Our knowledge of the Mauryan Empire is limited to the archives of the Greek travellers or Buddhist monks who travelled all over Southeast Asia. This is why we are a little suspicious of the way history is retold about the Mauryan Empire.
Episode overview:
The episode begins with narration of how the person behind the making Chandragupta Maurya into the great emperor he became was because of his wife, Nandini. The first scene introduces Chandragupta Maurya’s parents, Suryagupta Maurya and Moora. She was labeled as maidservant by many as she belonged to a lower caste but was loved dearly by Suryagupta.
Soon it’s revealed that Moora is expecting a baby and hopes for him to be a bright child and an able king. His parents are invited to Magadh by their friend, King Shishunath for a festive occasion and both decide to go together.
Soon Queen Moora is violated by a warped barber named Nandh who was shown lurking around the Queen’s bathing quarter and passing lewd comments about her to his friend earlier. When Moora told King Shishunath’s wife, Avanthi, she takes in on herself to punish the offender and whips him and declares banishment for life.
Soon the episode shifts and shows Queen Avanthi and the barber, Nandh in her quarters intimate. King Suryagupta walks in on them and sees them intimately close, confessing their love for each other and their plotting against King Shishunath. She further discloses how the nine sons she bore are Nandh’s and not of Shishunath.
Suryagupta tries to walk out quietly in order to warn his friend about his lying wife and her plans but grabs their attention. Worried that he will disclose it all to Shishunath, Avanthi orders Nandh to kill Suryagupta.
What we think:
The royalty in this extravagant series is seen and felt in every bit of the period drama including regal clothes, accessories and sets. By far, the most outstanding character is that of perverted barber played by Arpit Ranka.
In places where a foreign army tries to invade and the amount of efforts put in to lure at a woman seemed overly dramatized.
The show is yet to introduce the central characters. But the back story and built up surely seems promising and authentic.
Overall it might just please the history loving audience.
Rajat Tokas and Shweta Basu Prasad portray the characters of Chandra and Nandini. Other important cast includes Papiya Sengupta, Manoj Kolkatkar, Arpit Ranka and a few others. The show is aired from October 10, 2016 on Star Plus from 8.30 pm to 9.00 pm from Monday to Friday.
