Aśoka

Aśoka (2001) is a sweeping Indian historical drama you can watch online on iFILM, directed by cinematographer-turned-filmmaker Santosh Sivan. Shah Rukh Khan leads as the young Mauryan prince handed a sword said to be possessed — a blade that supposedly can't tell friend from foe.

To keep him clear of a vicious succession fight, his mother sends Aśoka wandering in disguise as a commoner. On the road he meets Kaurwaki, a princess on the run from the fallen kingdom of Kalinga, played by Kareena Kapoor, and falls hard for her. Then he's told a lie: that she is dead. He goes home a colder man, cuts down his half-brothers, seizes the throne and marches on Kalinga itself. The victory costs so many lives that the ambitious warrior he used to be simply burns away.

Sivan shot the picture himself, which is why the rain, the saturated color and the slowed-down battles feel so tactile, scored by A. R. Rahman's songs. It's a loose retelling of the real ruler whose horror at the Kalinga slaughter turned him toward Buddhism and nonviolence. Three hours of blood, romance and remorse — for anyone who wants scale over a textbook. Stream Aśoka (2001) online on iFILM.