Porus (TV series)

Porus
File:Porus Titlecard.png
Genre	Historical Fiction Drama
Created by	Siddharth Kumar Tewary
Screenplay by	Siddharth Kumar Tewary
Story by	Siddharth Kumar Tewary
Starring	Laksh Lalwani Rohit Purohit Rati Pandey Aparna Dixit Aditya Redij Suhani Dhanki Sameksha Sunny Ghanshani Praneet Bhat Riya Deepsi Aman Dhaliwal
Composer(s)	Sangeet Haldipur Siddharth Haldipur Suryaraj Kamal Lenin Nandi Raju Singh
Country of origin	India
Original language(s)	Hindi
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	249
Production
Producer(s)	Siddharth Kumar Tewary Rahul Kumar Tewary Gayatri Gill Tewary
Production location(s)	Thailand Umargam, Gujarat
Cinematography	Kabir Lal
Editor(s)	Janak Chauhan Anil Vaishya
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	20-30 minutes
Production company(s)	One Life Studios
Distributor	Swastik Productions
Budget	₹500 crore (US$74 million)
Release
Original network	Sony Entertainment Television
Picture format	576i HDTV 1080i
Original release	27 November 2017 (2017-11-27) – 13 November 2018 (2018-11-13)
Chronology
Followed by	Chandragupt Maurya
External links
Porus
Production website

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, Emperor 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 was 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 King Bamni are killed. Porus also kills Ambhiraj as he was a traitor. Laachi 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

The Pauravas

• 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.
• Ajay Jayram as Chintan Kumar, a man who helped Puru, Laachi, Hasti and Sumer to enter in Paurav Rashtra.

The Greeks

• Rohit Purohit as Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia, and destined rival of Porus.
• Sameksha as Olympias, former Queen and Queen Mother of Macedonia, Philip's wife and Alexander's mother.
• Sunny Ghanshani as Philip II, Former King of Macedonia, Alexander's father.
• Aparna Dixit as Roxane / Rukhsana, princess of Bactria, later Queen of Macedonia, Alexander the Great's love interest and first wife.
• Riya Deepsi as Barsine or Stateira II, Princess of Persia, elder daughter of Darius, second wife of Alexander the Great.
• Akash Singh Rajput / Akhil Kataria as Hephaestion, Alexander's best friend and general in his army.
• Amaad Mintoo as Arrhidaeus son of Philip and Philinna, Prince of Macedonia, step brother of Alexander.
• Sarehfar as Philinna, Queen of Macedonia, wife of King Philip II, and mother of Arrihdaeus.
• Nitin Joshi / Amir Malik as Cleitus the Black, one of Alexander's generals.
• Vikas Verma as Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander's generals.
• Aruna Irani as an Oracle, a priestess who acts as medium between men and the gods, and an adviser to Alexander.
• Chidaksha Chand as Cleopatra, Alexander the Great's sister, King Philip II of Macedon's daughter.
• Ruby Kakar as an Oracle, a Greek priestess who acts as medium between men and the gods, who is a philosopher.
• Raviz Thakur as Pausanias, bodyguard and murderer of Philip II.
• Vidvaan Sharma as baby Alexander.
• Karishma Rawat as Cleopatra Eurydice of Macedon, Queen of Macedonia, King Philip's last wife.
• Rizwan Kalshyan as Alexander of Epirus, King of Epirus, uncle of Alexander the Great, and husband of Cleopatra of Macedon.
• Praneet Bhat as Darius III, trader, later Emperor of Persia, succeeded by Alexander the Great.
• Suzanne Bernert as Ada of Caria, Queen of Caria.
• Browny Parashar as Oxyartes, father of Roxane and general of King Bessus of Bactria, later King of Bactria.

The Persians

• Praneet Bhat as Darius III, King of Persia, former trader, father of Barsine and Drypetis.
• Chandan Dilawar as Maushiaz, Darius' companion and assistant, Minister of the Persia.
• Vishal Patni as Farus, Muashiz's son, Commander of the Persian army.
• Riyanka Chanda as Stateira I, former Queen of Persia, wife of Darius and mother of Barsine and Drypetis.
• Shalini Sharma as Drypetis, Princess of Persia younger daughter of Darius.

The Dasyus

• Shraddha Musale as Mahanandini, Laachi's mother and matriarchal Queen of Dasyu Lok.
• Rishi Verma as Sumer, Laachi's brother, Prince of Dasyu Lok.
• Chirag Jani (actor) as Arunayak, Laachi's father and King of Dasyu Lok

Takshashila

• Chetan Pandit/Tarun Khanna as Chanakya, a scholar from Takshashila and later Porus' adviser and minister.
• Zohaib Siddiqui as Ambhikumar, Crown Prince of Takshashila, elder cousin of Porus.
• Gurpreet Singh as Ambhiraj, Former King of Takshashila, brother of Queen Anusuya, father of Ambhikumar and maternal uncle of Porus
• Vasundhara Kaul as Alka, mother of King Ambhikumar, former Queen of Takshashila.

Magadha

• Saurabh Raj Jain as Dhana Nanda, Emperor of Magadh.
• Nimai Bali as Amatya Rakshas, Prime Minister of Magadh.

Others

• Pooja Sharma as River Jhelum, the Narrator.
• Nalini Negi as Vishuddhi, a member of the Vishkanya(poison-girl) community.
• Jaival Pathak as Malay, the boy adopted by Porus.

Reception

The show was hailed as 'visually captivating' by India Today.

Pinkvilla called it the television version of the film Baahubali.

Sequel

Porus, being a finite series went off-air on 13 November 2018. Even before the end of the series, production house Swastik Pictures decided to tell the story of Chandragupta Maurya through a new show on Sony TV which replaced Porus and aired on the same time slot. Many key characters of Porus like Chanakya, Dhananand, Amatya Rakshas reprised their roles in the new show with the same actors portraying them. The new show Chandragupt Maurya was in seamless continuity with the ending of Porus. It went on-air on 14 November 2018 and off-air on 30 August 2019 after completing its story. Sourabh Raj Jain, who portrayed the character of Dhana Nanda in Porus reprised the role, but as the main antagonist of the show whereas Tarun Khanna reprised his role of Chanakya as an protagonist and Nimai Bali as Amatya Rakshas.

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
2018	Lions Gold Awards	Favorite Actress of the Year (Critics)	Rati Pandey	Won
		Favorite Actor of the Year	Laksh Lalwani	Won
2018	Asian Academy Creative Awards	Best Telenova/Soap	One Life Studios	Won
2018	Asian Academy Creative Awards	Best VFX	One Life Studios	Nominated
2018	Asian Academy Creative Awards	Best Theme Song	Porus	Nominated
2018	Indian Telly Technical Awards	Best VFX	One Life Studios	Won
2018	Indian Telly Technical Awards	Best Costumes	Ketki Dalal	Won
2018	Indian Telly Technical Awards	Best Director	Siddharth Kumar Tewary	Won
2018	Indian Telly Technical Awards	Best Screenplay Writer	Siddharth Kumar Tewary, Medha Jadav	Won
2018	Indian Telly Technical Awards	Best Sound(Fiction)	Raghu Hegde	Won
2019	Asian Television Awards	Best Actor in a Leading Role	Laksh Lalwani	Nominated
2019	Asian Television Awards	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Rohit Purohit	Nominated
2019	Asian Television Awards	Best Director	Siddharth Kumar Tewary	Won

Global Distribution

Porus is the first Global TV series of India. Produced by One Life Studios, Porus has been distributed to over 11 countries and 14 territories. One Life Studios has licensed Porus in Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei, Laos, and Myanmar in a deal with JKN Global Media, and in Indonesia in a licensing deal with Soraya Intercine Films. The show has also been sold to Thailand. It has been dubbed in Sinhala and launched as 'Digvijaya' in Sri Lanka. It has been dubbed in Tamil and launched as 'Maveeran' in India. The Malayalam version is titled Porus which currently airs on Surya TV from January 2019. The show has been dubbed in English, Thai, Malay and Burmese. Recently, Porus became the first Indian drama series to reach Japan. It has been launched on the digital platform Hulu.

The show was re-telecast on Dangal TV with a new title, Sikandar vs Porus.

See also

• List of programs broadcast by Sony Entertainment Television

External links

• Porus on Sony LIV
• Porus at IMDb
• Porus on SonyTV