Chandra Nandini

 

Chandra Nandini is an Indian Hindi-language Historical fictional drama television series which started airing on Star Plus on 10 October 2016 till 10 November 2017. It was produced by Ekta Kapoor under her banner Balaji Telefilms and is directed by Ranjan Kumar Singh. Starring Rajat Tokas as Chandragupta Maurya and Shweta Basu Prasad as a princess Nandni, the story-line is loosely based on the life of Chandragupta Maurya.

Plot

The story is about Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan empire, a great warrior and ruler, known for uniting the Indian sub-continent. However, the show focuses on his love story with a princess named Nandni. The show starts with a voice over of mother India saying about Chandragupta Maurya and Nandini. Suryagupta Maurya and Moora the parents of Chandra have their romance. An invitation comes from Magadh for a festival. When they go there queen Avantika of Magadh cheating her husband loves a barber named Nanda. When Suryagupta finds it, Nanda kills the king of Magadh. Then, Nanda kills Suryagupta but Suryagupta saves his wife. She gives birth to a boy. Moora hides her son in a cattle pound and escapes. But, Nanda arrests her and keep her in prison. However, A woman named Kanika finds Moora's son in the cattle pound and named him as Chandra and adopted without knowing his real identity.

8 years later

Chandra grows up and lives with his adopted parents. Moora is still in Nanda's prison without knowing anything about her son. She vows that her son will kill Nanda. Nanda and Avantika had a daughter named Nandini after 9 sons. Meanwhile, Chandra leaves home because his adopted mother suffering from her husband because of him. Chandra reaches to Magadh and meets a teacher named Chanakya who tries to save Magadh from Nanda. Chanakya sees Chandra's talents and understand that Chandra is the future king who save Magadh from Nanda. Then, he keeps Chandra in his presence and teaches him.

9 years later

Chandra is all grown up and becomes talented more than other students in Chanakya's presence. Nanda's daughter Nandini is also grown up and ready for a marriage. But that marriage is cancelled and Nandini marries Chandra to save her mother and kin. Love grows between Chandra and Nandini. But many problems are created by malayakutu and Helena. And Nandini’s twin sister Roopa tries to kill Chaaya and pushes her. Dhurdura sees her doing it and as they didn’t know about Nandini’s twin sister they blame Nandini for it. While exposing Roopa, Nandini and Chandra are married again but this time full pledged. Chandra and Chanakya use Roopa for catching Nanda and Nandini misunderstands Chandra for trapping her father using Roopa Nandini tried to warn Nanda. Mistaking her to be Roopa Nanda stabs her. Chandra saves Nandini but Roopa gets killed. Chanakya gets disturbed seeing the close relation of Chandra and Nandini. Durdhara is now 7 months pregnant and apologies Nandini for her mistake. Chandra and Nandini try to get intimate but Chanakya disturbs them saying that he should get ready for war against both of his father-in-laws (Nanda and Selucus) as they are planning to attack him together. Chandra convinces Selucus not to fight against him as his army is not big enough as Selucus. He decided to make Helena the chief queen and banish Nandini from kingdom as per Helena’s wishes. Helena threatens Durdhara to kill her if she spokes against her. Durdhara became sick. Helena informs Chandra and Nandini about Durdhara's condition and they both go back to Magadh to see her. Helena mixed poison in Durdhara's food and she becomes more sick eventually. Chandra and Nandini see Durdhara and become worried. At last Durdhara dies. When she was asked about her death at her last time she mistakenly pointed at Nandini while pointing at Helena.Everyone becomes shocked at Durdhara’s response. Helena provokes Chandra against Nandini and tells him to banish, Nandini out of Magadh. At last Chandra banishes Nandini from Magadh.

1 year later

Chandra is now the father of Durdhara's son Bindusara while Helena is the Chief Empress of Magadh. Nandini is teaching prince and princess of other countries at a Gurukul. Chandra brings Nandini back to Magadh and she becomes Bindusara's nanny and also a servant. Mahapadmananda and his minister Amatya Rakshas send a beautiful Vishkanya(poisonous seductress) to Magadh in order to kill seduce Chandra and kill him. She arrives in the Magadha court under a false name Vishaka, a princess. Vishaka tries to seduce Chandra and he pretends to fall in love with her just to irritate Nandini.

Chandra decides to marry Vishaka and he prepares for the Grand Wedding. Vishaka's plans to kill Chandra all goes in vain everytime because Nandini intervenes and saves him. Nandini exposes Vishaka and the Vishkanya is imprisoned. Later, Helena's mother Apama slow poisons Nandini. Nandini is pushed into a very critical state and the only antidote is Vishaka's poison which could cure her. Chandra begs Vishaka for help but she refuses. At last Nandini is saved.

8 years later

Chandra and Nandini is now leading a happy life with their son Bindusara. Nandini is pregnant with Chandra's child. Helena hates this as she feels jealous on Nandini. She manipulates Bindusara into believing that Nandini had killed Durdhara in the past. Bindusara too blindly believes the lie and started to hate Nandini and decided to take revenge on her. One day while going for a hunting trip, Bindusara pushes Nandini from a cliff . He deceives everyone including Chandra by saying that Nandini had slipped from the cliff accidentally. Chandra grieves for Nandini's death and forget his royal duties.

10 years later

Chandra is living like an ascetic after Nandini's unexpected death. Magadh is now under Helena's rule. Bindusara along with Chaaya's son Bhadraketu, Helena's children Alice and Adonis are all grown up. Helena is still keeping Bindusara as her puppet and poisons his mind against Nandini. On the other hand, it is also revealed that Nandini is actually alive and is saved by an old man. She is rechristened as Prabha because she does not remember her identity and past life as Nandini. Prabha(Nandini) shares a motherly bond with the old man's granddaughter Dharma. Prabha and Dharma goes to work at Magadh as servants in the royal palace. As soon as they entered the palace, Dharma started to hold a grudge against Bindusara. Chandra also finds Prabha a.k.a. Nandini and he makes her his queen again. However, Helena provokes Bindusara against Chandra which results in a great misunderstanding. Bindusara marries a princess named Charumati who I'll treats Dharma. Princess Alice falls in love with Prince Karthikey of Champanagar and wishes to marry him. She also informs this to her mother Helena. Helena decides to make Chitralekha, Karthikey's sister to marry Bindusara so that Alice can marry Karthikey. She prepares for the wedding ceremony. On the wedding day, Chithraleka who is already in love with Bhadraketu runs away and asks Dharma to replace her in the marriage. Dharma unwillingly gets married to Bindusara. Later he thanks her for saving his dignity and promises that he will soon break the marriage. A new problem arises when a man named Bhimdev claims Nandini to be his wife Savitri, enters the palace. Chandra and Nandini's relationship is put to test.

It is then revealed that this man is a sorcerer and he along with his wife Mohini, put black magic on Chandra to separate him and Nandini. They are ordered by a mysterious person named Swanand to kill Chandra. But, Chanakya finds out about the secret of Bhimdev and Mohini.Both Chanakya and Nandini saves Chandra from the effects of black magic. Nandini too regains her memory and realises her true identity.

At last, the mysterious man, Swanand attacks Magadh and tries to kill Chandra and takeover Magadh but, Chandra and Bindusara overpowers his army and they kill him. Chandra and Nandini are reunited. Bindusara also started to like Dharma and they all live happy ever after.

 

Main cast

·         Rajat Tokas as Chandragupta Maurya - Emperor of Magadha; Chanakya's student; Helena, Durdhara and Nandini’s husband; Bindusara, Adonis and Alice’s father; Charumati and Subhadrangi's father-in-law (2016-2017)

o    Jineet Rath as Young Chandragupta Maurya. (2016)

·         Shweta Basu Prasad as Chief Empress Nandini Maurya - King Mahapadma Nanda and Queen Avantika's daughter; Chandragupta Maurya's third wife; Bindusara and Dharma's adoptive mother.(2016–17) / Roopa - Nandini's evil twin (2016)

o    Angel Roopchandani as Young Princess Nandini.(2016)

·         Saanvi Talwar as Former Chief Empress Durdhara Maurya - Chandragupta Maurya's second wife; Bindusara's mother; Charumati and Dharma's mother-in-law; She is killed by Helena. (2016–17)

·         Tanu Khan as Empress Helena Maurya - Seleucus I Nicator and Apama’s daughter; Chandragupta Maurya's first wife; Adonis and Alice’s mother.(2016–17)

Recurring cast[edit]

·         Siddharth Nigam as Crown Prince Bindusara Maurya - Emperor Chandragupta Maurya and Empress Durdhara’s son; Nandini's adopted son; Adonis and Alice's half-brother; Charumati & Dharma's husband.(2017)

o    Ayaan Zubair Rahmani as Child Prince Bindusara (2017)

o    Maahi as Baby Bindusara (2017)

·         Manoj Kolhatkar as Acharya Vishnugupt Chanakya, Guru of Chandragupta Maurya and Prime Minister of Magadha.(2016–17)^[7]

·         Avneet Kaur as Rajkumari Charumati Maurya (becomes Maharani); Bindusara's first wife; Chandragupta and Durdhara's daughter-in-law.(2017)

·         Prerna Sharma as Queen Dharma - Bindusara's second wife; Nandini's foster daughter; Chandragupta and Durdhara's daughter-in-law (2017)

·         Arpit Ranka as Samrat Mahapadma Nanda - Former Emperor of Magadha; Avantika's husband; Nandini and her nine brother’s father; He was killed by Chandragupta (2016–17)^[8][9]

·         Mansi Sharma as Maharani Avantika - Former Empress of Magadha; Mahapadma Nanda's second wife; Nandini and her nine brother's mother. (2016–17)

·         Vidya Sinha as Rajmata Sonarika - Suryagupta’s mother; Chandragupta's grandmother; Bindusara, Adonis and Alice's great-grandmother (2016–17)

·         Papiya Sengupta as Rajmata Moora - Chandragupta's mother; Helena, Durdhara and Nandini’s mother-in-law; Bindusara, Adonis and Alice’s grandmother. (2016-2017)

·         Sheeba Chaddha as Apama- Former Queen of Greece and Helena's mother. (2017)

·         Chetan Hansraj as Rajkumar / Maharaj Malayketu - Princess Chhaaya's second husband. (2016–2017)

·         Sanjeev Siddharth as Amaatya Rakshas - Mahapadma Nanda's Prime minister. (2016-2017)

·         Rohit Choudhary as Vakranas.(2016)

·         Urfi Javed / Piya Valecha as Rajkumari / Maharani Chhaya - Chandragupta's sister. (2016–17)

·         Ishaan Singh Manhas as Satyajeet - Chhaaya's first husband. (2016)

·         Lokesh Batta as Rajkumar Dhananand - Mahapadma Nanda's son. (2016)

·         Rushiraj Pawar as Sona Nanda - Dhana Nanda's son. (2016)

·         Danish Bagga as Pandugrath - Mahapadma Nanda's seemingly mentally disabled son. (2016–17)

·         Geetanjali Mishra as Maharani Sunanda - Mahapadma Nanda's first wife. (2016–17)

·         Vibhuti Thakur as Kanika - Chandragupta's foster mother. (2016–17)

·         Nausheen Ali Sardar as Queen Apama- Former Queen of Greece and Helena's mother. (2016-2

·         Kristian Hedegaard Petersen/Gaurav Khanna as Seleucus I Nikator (2016-2017)

·         Andrea Ravera as Megasthenes

·         Khushboo Shroff as Gautami

·         Ankur Malhotra as Maharaj Ambhi (2016)

·         Vikas Salgotra as Maharaj Purushottam (Porus) (2016)

·         Shikha Singh as a Princess (cameo role) (2016)

·         Pooja Banerjee as Princess "Vishaka" Vishkanya. (2017

·         Ahad Ali Aamir as Rajkumaar Bandhir. (2017)

·         Abhishek Nigam as Rajkumar Bhadraketu - Parvatak Malayketu and Princess Chhaaya’s son, nephew of Chandragupta, Chitralekha's husband. (2017)

·         Pragati Chourasiya as Rajkumari Chitralekha - Princess of Champanagar and wife of Bhadraketu. (2017)

·         Gautam Nain as Rajkumar Adonis - Chandragupta and Helena’s son; Alice's brother, Bindusara's half-brother (2017)

·         Nirisha Basnett as Rajkumari Alice- Chandragupta and Helena’s daughter; Adonis's sister; Bindusara's half-sister; Kartikey's wife. (2017)

·         Sheezan K as Rajkumar Kartikay - Prince of Champanagar; Alice's husband.(2017)

·         Charmi Dhami as Rajkumari Tilottama - Maadhav and Maalti’s daughter. (2017)

·         Lavina Tandon as Mohini - an Enchantress. (2017)

·         Athar Siddiqui as Bheem Dev - Mohini's husband. (2017)

·         Garima Arora as Madhuram

·         Vikas Singh Rajput

 

 

Production

This is regarded as one of the costliest series produced by Ekta Kapoor under Balaji Telefilms. In 21 September 2016, a press conference was held in Mumbai with the presence of Producer Ekta Kapoor and some actors including the leads Rajat Tokas and Shweta Basu Prasad.^[16] Director Santram Verma who directed the pilot episode of the series opted out after it and was replaced by Ranjan Kumar Singh.

In October 2016, about 300 horses were auditioned for a sequence for the lead Tokas.

Speaking about his role male lead Rajat Tokas said, "I am really looking forward to portraying the mighty king, Chandragupta Maurya. His and Nandni’s story is very different from what we’ve seen on TV so far. Theirs is a love story written with hatred." Female lead Shwetha Basu Prasad ssaid, "This show marks my comeback on TV after quite some time. The character of Nandni is that of a strong princess, whose emotions and struggles, every woman would resonate with."

In 2017, the storyline of the series took a leap. During which Siddharth Nigam joined the cast as Bindusara, Avneet Kaur as Charumati. The series ended in 10 November 2017, due to fluctuations in its viewership, with Chandragupta becoming a Buddhist monk. The shooting of the series was completed on 2 November 2017.

 

Training

I will be paying attention to some of the nuances of that era and that character with the body language of a warrior princess, which will soon require me to learn sword fighting and horse riding. I have been reading on Magadh and Mauryan history a lot these days.

Filming

The initial scenes of the series was shot in the ancient locations of Magadh and Pataliputra in Patna.But, the series was mainly filmed in Mumbai.

 

Reception

India Today quoted the series as more masala, less history and reviewed, "The creators of the show have taken generous amount of creative liberty with the original story or history. The actors are not that bad; in fact, they are pretty okay.The palace looks super-animated, like it has just been put on the screen as an afterthought."

The Times of India stated, "Going by the trailer, Shweta Basu fits the role of Chandragupta's wife perfectly. When it comes to showcasing opulence, there is no one who does it better than Ekta Kapoor. Right from the costume to the setting, one can expect grand locations and beautifully decked men and women.