King Aśoka in Popular Culture: A Critical Analysis of Representations in Today’s World

Abstract

This paper aims to critically analyse the modern-day depictions and representations of the emperor Aśoka in various areas of contemporary popular cultures. By looking at representations in the fields of cinema, television and other ventures of creative and artistic value, the paper will represent a new perspective into the understanding of the emperor which is based in modern-day and is not directly related to traditional academia but plays a pivotal role in the forming of public perceptions about the emperor and his life. This is a very contemporary point of view to look at the emperor and challenges the traditional notions which often lack the idea of public perception and modern-day outlooks. The paper will outline the marked differences in perspectives and outlooks in how the emperor is perceived in the eyes of the popular culture narratives and how these impressions help in the creation of elaborate narratives. From a methodological perspective, the paper makes use of two prominent popular culture products-Asoka (2001), a Bollywood movie, and the TV serial Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat (2015-2016)-against the academic historiography of the Mauryan emperor to identify major differences between the scholarly and popular depictions in terms of architecture, costume, dialogue, structure, and depiction of the change in Aśoka’s philosophy/administration. This comparison will open new gates of discussion on how modern-day media and popular cultures have risen to the occasion of framing public perceptions and mass narratives. The significance of this research lies in its implications concerning the distortion of public perception and the need for further collaborations.