Colors
CEO
Raj
Nayak
today
rubbished
reports
that
the
channel's
popular
reality
show
Bigg
Boss
8
got
extended
as
it's
new
series
Chakravartin
Ashoka
Samrat
took
time
to
complete.
Nayak
said
the
Bigg
Boss
Halla
Bol,
an
extension
of
Bigg
Boss
8,
was
planned
right
from
the
beginning
as
the
reality
series
was
doing
good.
"These
reports
that
'Halla
Bol'
was
introduced
as
Ashoka
was
not
ready
are
completely
baseless.
It
was
a
pre-planned
thing
as
the
eighth
season
of
the
show
was
doing
amazing.
"So,
we
thought
that
we
should
introduce
a
new
segment
with
a
new
host
and
we
have
been
getting
good
response," Nayak
told
reporters
here.
Chakravartin
Ashoka
Samrat,
set
to
go
on
air
from
February
2
after
Bigg
Boss
gets
over
this
weekend,
was
launched
here
in
Karjat,
Maharashtra,
where
the
show
is
currently
being
shot.
The
pre-production
of
the
historical
show
took
six
months
to
complete
including
the
building
of
the
sets
by
'Mary
Kom' director
Umang
Kumar
in
collaboration
with
Nitin
Desai.
"It
was
a
challenge
for
me
to
prepare
the
sets
for
Ashoka
because
it
was
not
a
mythological
show
where
you
can
play
with
your
imagination.
But
Ashoka
is
a
historical
show
and
if
we
are
not
right
on
the
fact
then
we
can
land
in
a
big
soup," Umang,
who
has
also
created
the
sets
of
mythological
show
Mahadev,
said.
Dhoom
3
star
Siddharth
Nigam,
who
played
the
young
Aamir
Khan
in
the
film,
is
playing
the
titular
character
of
Ashoka
in
the
show.
Nigam
said
playing
the
greatest
emperor
of
India
was
like
revisiting
his
history
lessons.
"I
am
in
my
9th
standard
and
my
teacher
teaches
me
history.
I
like
Ashoka
the
most
because
I
have
learned
about
him
on
my
own.
I
took
three
months
time
to
prepare
for
my
character,"
Nigam
said.
The
show
has
been
produced
by
Contiloe,
who
were
behind
the
epic
Maharana
Pratap,
and
they
feel
it
is
the
'grandest' show
from
their
side.
"We
did
an
extensive
research
on
the
show
and
consulted
the
books
available
on
him.
We
did
dramatise
some
parts
but
it
was
done
on
dotted
lines.
The
story
starts
from
Magadh
and
Ashoka's
journey
from
woods
to
become
the
emperor
which
was
predicted
by
Chanakya,"
Abhimanyu
Singh,
CEO
Contiloe,
said.
Eminent
actor
Manoj
Joshi
is
playing
Chanakya,
who
is
touted
as
the
most
intelligent
human
being
in
the
history.
Joshi
has
previously
acted
in
Marathi
TV
series
Chanakya,
where
he
played
Shriyak.
Asked
if
he
was
apprehensive
of
getting
typecast,
the
actor
said,
"No,
I
don't
have
the
fear
of
getting
similar
roles.
If
I
get
such
roles
many
a
times,
I
would
love
to
do
them
again
and
again."
PTI