Porus

 

Porus is a historical drama television series based on the Battle of the Hydaspes, visualizing the lives of Indian warrior and ruler Porus, King of the Pauravas and Alexander The Great, King of the Macedonian Empire. It premiered on 27 November 2017 on Sony TV. Its last episode was aired on 13 November 2018. Another historical drama Chandragupta Maurya replaced it with seamless continuity of story.

The show is created by Siddharth Kumar Tewary of Swastik Productions. It is the most expensive show on Indian television, having a budget of about INR 500 crores (roughly USD 70 million)

 

Plot

Story of Purushottam/Porus

The Paurava Kingdom and Takshashila are rival kingdoms. Soon, to take advantage of this enmity, Darius III of Persia arrives in India, in 370 BCE, initially to trade, but later conspires to destroy the royal family of the Pauravas. Paurava King Bamni marries the princess of Taxila, Anusuya. Darius' conspiracies, along with Takshashila King Ambhiraj, bear fruit and the pregnant Anusuya is forced to flee, wherein she gives birth to Purushottam, but he too is lost. The infant prince is saved by Ripudaman, a Paurava general, and is raised by him, along with his own son Hasti, in the Dasyu Kingdom (kingdom of outcast tribals).

Porus is soon reunited with his family when he grows up, but it is also revealed that Bamni married Kadika when Anusuya was lost, and has a son, Kanishk. Kanishk and Puru become rivals, and the former joins hands with Darius III to eliminate him. However, Puru foils Darius's plans, along with his friend Laachi (a Dasyu princess), and kicks the Persians out of India. Soon, Shivdutt (elder brother of Bamni) conspires with Kanishk and they try to kill him and fail every time, and soon, Porus is crowned as the king of the Pauravas, and he comes to know of the arrival of Alexander towards India.

Story of Alexander

Alexander is born as the son of Olympias and Zeus, however this fact is unknown and he is acknowledged as the son of Philip. Alexander grows up to be an ambitious, as well as respectful prince, and proves his skills in a battle. His half-brother Arrhideaus is made a mad person by Olympia. Philip marries Cleopatra Eurydice of Macedon, and denies Alexander the throne, saying that his and Cleopatra's son will be his successor. This leaves Alexander heartbroken and wants revenge. Cleopatra Eurydice gives birth to a daughter, and also Philip decides to wed his daughter Cleopatra of Macedon to Alexander I of Epirus. They wed, however Philip is soon assassinated by Pausanias on Alexander's command, making Alexander the new king. Olympias and Alexander also murder Cleopatra of Eurydice, her 2 infant children, Philinna and Attalus. Arrhideaus is left by Alexander to use him as a general.

Alexander soon becomes a ruthless ruler, conquering many kingdoms, including Persia. He also marries Roxana, a Bactrian princess and the daughter of Oxyartes, along with Barsine and Drypetis, daughters of Darius. He soon marches towards India, wherein he is received by Ambhiraj, who surrenders, and wants revenge from Porus. Alexander also befriends the Dasyu families, and also Kanishk to defeat Porus. Kanishk is killed in a heist, whereas the Dasyus, realising that they need to fight for their country, go with Porus.

Battle of the Hydaspes and aftermath

The fierce battle ensues. The whole royal family of Pauravas fight, including a pregnant Lachi. The war goes on for days, in which , Queen Anusuya , Hasti and Bamni are killed. Porus also kills Ambhiraj as he was a traitor. Lachi has to back off due to pregnancy, but Porus stands till the end, and fights, defending his land.

Alexander, impressed by his bravery and skills, returns Porus his kingdom along with granting him more territory, and heads back towards Macedonia. The son of Porus, Malayketu, is born. Few years go by, and within this, Alexander stops in Babylon midway, and soon dies, making pregnant Roxanna a widow. Ambhikumar, soon launches a group attack with Seleucus, in which Porus and Lachi are killed. Porus sends his young son in a basket, in the Jhelum river, before dying.

Now the future of India lies in the hands of Chanakya.

 

Cast

·         Laksh Lalwani as Purushottam (Puru) / Porus, King of the Pauravas, and destined rival of Alexander.

·         Rati Pandey as Anusuya, Porus' mother, Bamni's wife and Ambhiraj's sister, princess of Takshashila, Queen and later Queen Mother of the Paurav Kingdom

·         Aditya Redij as Bamni, King and later King Father of the Pauravas, Porus' father.

·         Suhani Dhanki as Laachi, princess of Dasyu Raj, later wife of Porus and Queen of the Pauravas.

·         Aman Dhaliwal as Amatya Shivdutt, elder brother of King Bamni, and Minister of the Pauravas under Bamni and then Kanishk.

·         Akshara Singh/Sangeeta Khanayat as Kadika, King Bamni's second wife, mother of Kanishk and Porus' step mother, Queen and briefly Queen Mother of the Pauravas under Kanishk's rule.

·         Savi Thakur as Kanishk, former Crown Prince and King of the Pauravas, son of King Bamni and Queen Kadika, Porus' half brother

·         Hrishikesh Pandey as Senapati Ripudaman Singh, Commander of the Pauravas and later disguised as Sajjan Singh and Commander of the Dasyus, foster father of Porus.

·         Ashlesha Sawant as Pritha, wife of Ripudaman Singh, foster mother of Porus, mother of Hasti, and later Queen Mother of Sindh under Hasti's rule.

·         Pranav Sahay as Samar Singh, Commander of the Paurava army, brother of Kadika, and posthumously maternal uncle of Kanishk.

·         Mohit Abrol as Hasti, Ripudaman Singh and Pritha's son, Porus' foster brother, aide, and later king of Sindh.

·         Vivek Vallah as The Rajguru, the Royal Priest of the Paurav Kingdom.