REVIEW: Chandra Nandni is satisfactory

Over the last few decades, we have been watching shows made on popular characters from mythology and history. Almost all the shows have been loved, for many different reasons.

That’s why TV czarina, Ekta Kapoor, is back with a lesser-known chapter from history– the story of Bharat maa ka sabse pyaara beta ‘Chandragupta Maurya’ and his relationship with Nandini, jisne Chandragupta ko maha Chandragupta banaya...

The story of Star Plus’ Chandra Nandni begins with Bharat Maa’s narration, introducing us to King Suryagupta Maurya and his queen Moora (Papiya Sengupta), who is pregnant and is expected to deliver their baby soon.

Both Suryagupta and Moora love each other a lot and while discussing the future of their unborn child, they decide to name him Chandragupta. Amidst all this, the king and queen of Magadh, Shishunath and Avantika (Mansi Sharma), invite them to their kingdom for Vasant Utsav.

They reach Magadh for the festival, but there’s something dark lurking in the corner. Nand (Arpit Ranka), a servant at Shishunath’s palace, gets attracted to Moora and shows his interest in her. He sneaks into the palace, which scares Moora.

She asks Suryagupta to check. The angry Suryagupta sets off to seek revenge and soon finds out about the affair between Nand and Avantika. This shocks him and he plans to reveal this to Shishunath, but even before he reaches, Nand kills him!

Moora escapes from the palace and delivers ‘Chandragupta’. To safeguard her son from the evil Nand, she leaves her son alone and confronts Nand, who takes her to Magadh and keeps her under arrest. Also, he declares himself as Maharaj Padmanand, the next king of Magadh, to which Avantika agrees.

Cut to 8 years later... Maharaj Padmanand‘s ego grows exponentially. Chandragupta is now raised by a couple (foster parents) who struggles with their daily needs. He is now strong, both physically and mentally. But unfortunately, doesn’t believe in love or any such relationships.

His foster father hates Chandragupta and is always in need of money. This disturbs Chandragupta and he plans to earn lot of money and respect for both himself and his foster mother. Meanwhile, at Magadh, Nandini is born and with her birth, she brings fame and fortune for Nand.

He loves his daughter and keeps her away from his evil deeds. Avantika and Moora inform Nand that he would soon be punished for his ill-acts.

Chandragupta reaches the city of Pataliputra to achieve his dreams and comes across Padmanand, who’s punishing  Moora for insulting him. Unable to see this, Chandragupta saves Moora from being tortured.

Chanakya (Manoj Kolhatkar) also returns to Pataliputra and wishes to meet Padmanand, but is humiliated. Soon, we see that Chanakya buys Chandragupta from his foster parents. He knows the value and determination of the young Chandragupta (Jineet Rath) and decides to take him along.

Years pass by and Chandragupta continues to stay at Chanakya's ashram. The now young Nandini (Angel Rupchandani) learns archery from her father.

Both characters are now seen training with their gurus and developing the necessary skills, but with different ideologies - while Chandragupta does not believe in love, Nandini does.

The show, so far, is quite interesting. The initial narration was well-executed. The cast is impressive, especially Nand and Moora. Both characters channelize the power through their acts so well that one feels bad for Moora and anger for Nand.

However, the twenty-plus minute act seems rather long. The VFX and animation are good in parts. Dialogues are not very impressive as the language used is quite simple (and not metaphoric). 

Rajat Tokas and Shweta Basu’s characters are finally revealed in the show. Rajat, who is known and appreciated for such roles, yet again looks powerful and convincing. Shweta, on the other hand, is seen after a long time. She doesn’t really add value to the character yet, but we hope that will change once her arch begins to grow.

How will they meet? Will there be an ego clash? Who will change whom? Wait for the grandeur to begin.