REVIEW: Porus REDEFINES the grandeur of historical sagas with a story never-seen-before

With some impeccable performances and a crisp story, Porus on Sony TV is a total entertainer.

Cast: Laksh Lalwani, Rohit Purohit, Rati Pandey, Suhani Dhanki, Aditya Reddij, Praneet Bhatt, Sameksha, Sunny Ghansani.

Produced By: Siddharth Kumar Tewary

Story So Far:

The story begins with a boat seen heading into Bharat and the trader in the boat asks an Indian the way to go. The Indian helps the trader, but his hawk blinds the former. The Pouryan kingdom is celebrating the Jhelum market festival, where the kingdom, who wins a contest will trade in the market. The king of Takshashila, Ambhi and his sister Anusuya reach the Pouryan kingdom to participate in the competition. The minister of the Pouryan kingdom Amartya Shivdutt is introduced and has an altercation with Ambhi. Shivdutt’s brother and the Pouryan King Bamni welcomes Ambhi and Anusuya, where in the meantime, Anusuya saves a small child from the galloping horses of the Takshashila soldiers, thus showing her compassionate side. The competition starts, where after a very challenging duel, Bamni defeats Ambhi and is about to sever his hand when Anusuya pleads him not to. The Jhelum market is won by the Pouryan kingdom and they trade. That is when the trader Darius comes and offers 10 crore gold coins for trading in the market. But Bamni politely refuses his offer and asks Darius to build his trust first and then do business.

The Takshashila Army leaves after the competition but are attacked by Shivdutt. In the middle of the war, King Bamni reaches the battlefield and Anusuya questions him about the backstabbing, where Bamni tells Anusuya that this in-fighting can stop and Bharath can become one if she married him and their kingdoms became one. Anusuya agrees, but this does not go down well with Shivdutt and her brother Ambhi. Shivdutt runs to kill Anusuya, but Bamni saves her and applies his blood on Anusuya’s forehead. An enraged Ambhi disowns Anusuya and states that she has disgraced the Takshashila kingdom. Anusuya is escorted to the Pouryan palace where Bamni marries her and they consummate their marriage.

However, Anusuya is in for a rude shock when Shivdutt attacks her the next morning in the absence of Bamni. Anusuya manages to reach Bamni who then tells her that he avenged his brother’s insult at the hands of her brothers at the Jhelum market competition.

A shattered Anusuya is sitting on the banks of the Jhelum river, when Darius walks up to her and instigates her to take revenge from Bamni. He tells Anusuya that he will call for a huge army from Faras and with the Takshashila army and the two can destroy the Pouryans. Anusuya traps Darius by taking him back to Bamni’s palace and revealing his true intentions. But Bamni orders his soldiers to put Anusuya in a dark room, where Anusuya is seen losing hope of her ‘ek Bharath’ dream.

In a parallel world, The kingdom of Macedonia is shown where King Philips’ fourth wife Olympias is on your screens. The king walks into her chambers and in a way of insulting him, Olympius wipes off her make up. She reprimands her husband for having forcefully conquered her and that she has no affection for him or his dirty blood. Philip then rapes his wife and tells her that she will now bear his dirty blooded child. A disheartened Olympius walks to her diety Zeus and prays for a child, who like a storm will conquer the entire world and put it at her feet. And that is when Zeus’ snakes crawl all over her body and cover her.

In Bharath, Anusuya dreams of being lifted into the sky and her body turning blue. By then, Bamni walks into her dark room and tells Anusuya that even he wishes for Bharath to be united as one and apologises to her, thus reconciling with her.

Darius is seen trying his ‘divide and rule’ tricks with Shivdutt as the two enjoy a cock fight. He puts forth his plan to defeat Takshashila and prove his loyalty to the Pouryan kingdom to Shivdutt, who agrees for it and takes Darius to the palace. Bamni offers Darius milk and jaggery and then drops lemon into it, thus showing that he does understand Darius’ intentions. That is when Anusuya walks in and Bamni explains to Shivdutt that he rectified his mistake with Anusuya and that he will rectify another one by sending Darius back to Faras. Anusuya angers Darius even more when she drops curd on his palm and tells him that it is a ritual to bid good bye to guests and wish for their safe journey.

Anusuya tells the Rajguru about her dream and he interprets it to be the sign that she will give birth to a warrior, whose heart will melt for his own people, but that very heart will turn into stone when dealing with his enemies. Anusuya tells Bamni that she wants her son to be born in a united Bharath and not a divided one. In Macedonia, Queen Olympius tells Philip that she is bearing her and Zeus’ child, which makes Philip angry. He threatens to have killed her if she weren’t pregnant with his heir. Olympius tells him that she will name her son Alexander, who will conquer the entire world, especially Bharath for her.

After 9 months, Bamni and Anusuya travel to meet Ambhi (Anusuya’s brother) where they get attacked by the Takshashila soldiers. Ambhi and Bamni after a conversation come to terms with each other in the wake of creating a one Bharath.

What We Liked:

What I personally liked was how after a very very long time, I got to see musical opening credits, that also describe the journey of both Porus and Alexander. (It sort of reminded me of the Game Of Thrones opening credits theme.)

Another point I liked is – the pace of the show. In its first week itself, the show sees the birth of both Alexander and Porus. Looks like the makers do not plan to drag the show too much and we like this.

With a show and scale like this, it is easy to endure a flaw in the vfx department, but that too has been at par.

The makers have not even once, compromised on the scale of the show. Like the larger than life promos, the show too is visually amazing and very pleasing.

Every character does his best- be it the supporting roles or the lead ones. A special mention to Rati Pandey, where as pleasing as it is to see the actress return to the screen, her powerhouse performance only makes the show more appealing to watch.

What We Did Not Like:

In the first 5 episodes, there really wasn’t anything that pulled the show down or gave us a reason to pinpoint anything bad.

The Verdict

Porus has been in the news ever since the show’s first promo came out. The show sets certain standards as well and has the potential to redefine the scale on which historical sagas can be made. Not to mention, the show is definitely a crown on the head for Swastik Productions, as they manage to out do themselves with the scale on which they have made Porus. And we can definitely say that the show has been worth all the wait.

Ratings: ****1/2 (4.5 stars)