This movie is so good and made very well. I feel it was as big of masterpiece as Braveheart. The art direction couldn't feel any more epic. The war was the best part as it shows it was one of the most bloodiest battles. The art direction is perfect. The background music is spellbinding. However, the story flaws because Asoka's story has been made for a movie which is the only problem I have with the movie (More on this later).
But one performance nobody will ever forget is SRK's. Shahrukh Khan gives an awesome performance. It is a shocker how he did not get nominated for an award for this movie. It is ten times better than his K3G performance. Yet Kareena Kapoor is a revelation (after her second two films). Roles like Refugee and this will get her somewhere. Roles like Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai, Yaadein, and too an extent K3g are a threat to her career. Rahul Dev and Danny Denzongpa are a nice addition to the cast. Hrishitta Bhatt, who makes an excellent debut, and Sooraj Balaji, a good child star, prove that awards are highly overrated.
The songs have an epic feeling, and fit the film very well. Roshni Se is an awesome song and arguably the best song in the soundtrack. Raat Ka Nasha is another good song mainly due to Chitra's singing and Kareena's excellent emoting. San Sanana is a catchy song. O Re Kaanchi is a fun dance song with excellent dancing by Kareena Kapoor. Aa Tayar Hoja is an interesting song with good choreography as it shows typical male entertainment from that time.
I gave this movie a 9 out of 10 initially, but I now gave it a seven. The reason being is this movie is quite inaccurate. They don't show his transition to Buddhism and his life after Buddhism are given no significance. All they really showed was his love with Kaurwaki who was not even a princess (just a fisher woman). They also gave no significance to Devi, who was much more important in Asoka's life. It is primarily a love story. That sucks because this movie was so good, but that flaw always interferes whenever I see the movie (even though the movie states it is not a true story). With the consent of that, this movie is truly a masterpiece (if you ignore the accuracy) and is worth a watch.