Chandra Nandini

Chandra Nandini
Genre	Historical Fiction Drama
Created by	Ekta Kapoor Shobha Kapoor
Based on	Chandragupta Maurya
Written by	R M Joshi Neha Singh
Directed by	Ranjan Kumar Singh Mukesh Kumar Singh Deepak S Garg
Creative directors	Sujata Rao Kadar kazi(kk)
Starring	Rajat Tokas Shweta Basu Prasad Siddharth Nigam
Country of origin	India
Original language	Hindi
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	286
Production
Producer	Ekta Kapoor
Production locations	Mumbai, India
Cinematography	Ravi Naidu
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	22 minutes approx.
Production company	Balaji Telefilms
Distributor	Star India
Release
Original network	Star Plus
Picture format	576i(SDTV) 1080i(HDTV)
Original release	10 October 2016 (2016-10-10)[1] – 10 November 2017 (2017-11-10)
External links
Website

Chandra Nandini is an Indian Hindi-language Historical fictional drama television series which aired on Star Plus from 10 October 2016 till 10 November 2017.^[2] It was produced by Ekta Kapoor under her banner Balaji Telefilms and is directed by Ranjan Kumar Singh.^[3] 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.^[4][5]

Synopsis[]

The story is about Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya 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 Nandini. The show starts with a voice-over of mother India saying about Chandragupta Maurya and Nandini. Suryagupta Maurya, who is a local king, rules the country with his pregnant wife, Moora. An invitation comes from Magadha for a festival. When they go there, Maghadha queen Avantika is cheating her husband but she loves a barber named Nanda. When Suryagupta finds it, Nanda kills the king of Magadha. Then, Nanda kills Suryagupta, but Suryagupta saves Moora. She gives birth to a boy. Moora hides her son in a cattle pound and escapes, but she is arrested. However, A woman named Kanika finds Moora's son in the cattle pound and names him as Chandra and adopts him without knowing his real identity.

8 years later[]

Chandra is grown 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 nine sons. Meanwhile, Chandra leaves home because Kanika suffers from her husband because of him. Chandra reaches Magadha and meets a teacher named Chanakya who tries to save Magadh from Nanda. Chanakya sees Chandra's talents and understands that Chandra is the future king who can save Magadha. Then, he keeps Chandra in his presence and teaches him.

9 years later[]

Now, 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 marriage. But that marriage is cancelled, and Nandini marries Chandra to save her mother and kingdom. Eventually, Love grows between Chandra and Nandini. But many problems are created by Malayakutu and Helena. At this time, Nandini’s twin sister Roopa tries to kill Chaaya and pushes her. Durdhara 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. But, Nanda stabs Nandini mistaking her to be Roopa. Chandra saves Nandini, but Roopa gets killed. Chanakya gets disturbed seeing the close relationship between Chandra and Nandini. Durdhara is now seven months pregnant and apologies to 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 Nanda and Seleucus I Nicator as they plan to attack him together. Chandra convinces Seleucus not to fight against him as his army is not as big as Seleucus'.

He decided to make Helena the chief queen and banish Nandini from the 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 mixes poison in Durdhara's food, and she becomes sicker eventually. Chandra and Nandini see Durdhara and become worried.

Finally, Durdhara dies, and her baby was taken by surgery. 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 Magadha.

1 year later[]

Chandra now lives with Helena and Durdhara's son, Bindusara. Nandini is teaching the prince and princess of other countries at a Gurukul. Chandra brings Nandini back to Magadh and as Bindusara's nanny. Mahapadma Nanda and his minister Amatya Rakshas send a beautiful Vishkanya (poisonous seductress) to Magadha to kill Chandra. She arrives in the Magadha court under the false name Vishaka, a princess. Vishaka tries to seduce Chandra, and he pretends to fall in love with her to irritate Nandini.

Chandra decides to marry Vishaka, and he prepares for the grand wedding. Vishaka's plans to kill Chandra all go in vain every time 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 are now leading a happy life with Bindusara. Nandini is pregnant with Chandra's child. Helena hates this as she feels jealous of Nandini. She manipulates Bindusara into believing that Nandini had killed Durdhara in the past. Blindly believing Helena, Bindusara starts to hate Nandini and decides to take revenge on her. One day while going on 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 forgets his royal duties.

10 years later[]

Chandra is living like an ascetic after Nandini's unexpected death. Magadha is now under Helena's rule. Malayketu and Chaaya's son Bhadraketu, Helena's children, Alice and Adonis, are all grown. 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 alive and is saved by an older man. She is rechristened as Prabha because she doesn't remember her past life as Nandini. Prabha (Nandini) shares a motherly bond with the older adult's granddaughter Dharma. Prabha and Dharma go to find some work at Magadh as servants in the royal palace. As soon as they enter the palace, Dharma started to hold a grudge against Bindusara. Chandra also finds Prabha, aka 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 ill-treats Dharma. Princess Alice falls in love with Prince Karthikey of Champanagar and wishes to marry him. She also informs her mother, Helena. Helena decides to make Chitralekha, Karthikey's sister to marry Bindusara so that Alice can marry Karthikeyan. 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 marries Bindusara. Later he thanks her for saving his dignity and promises that he will soon break the marriage. A new problem arises when Bhimdev claims Nandini to be his wife, Savitri, who enters the palace. Chandra and Nandini's relationship is put to the 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 save Chandra from the effects of black magic. Nandini regains her memory and realises her true identity.

Finally, the mysterious man, Swanand, attacks Magadh and tries to kill Chandra and takeover Magadh. But, Chandra and Bindusara overpower his army, and they kill him. Chandra and Nandini are reunited. Chandra forgives Helena on Nandini's request and sends her back to Greece with her children . Bindusara apologises to Nandini for his past mistakes. He starts to like Dharma, and they all live happily.

Cast[]

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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)
  • Jineet Rath as Young Chandragupta Maurya. (2016)
• Shweta Basu Prasad as Chief Empress - 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)
  • 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)^[6]]
• Tanu Khan as Empress Helena Maurya - Seleucus I Nicator and Apama's daughter; Chandragupta Maurya's first wife; Adonis and Alice's mother, Bindusara's stepmother. (2016–17)

Recurring cast[]

• Rahul Sharma as Madhav (Chandra's cousin brother and Malti's husband)
• Siddharth Nigam as Crown Prince Bindusara Maurya – Chandragupta Maurya and Durdhara’s son; Nandini's adopted son; Adonis and Alice's half-brother; Charumitra and Dharma's husband. (2017)
  • as Young Prince Bindusara (2017)
• Himanshu Rai as Subhadra (Chanakya's pupil)
• Avneet Kaur as Princess Charumati Maurya – Bindusara's first wife. (2017)^[7]
• as Dharma – Nandini's adopted daughter; Bindusara's second wife. (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 Queen Sonarika – Suryagupta's mother; Chandragupta's grandmother; Bindusara, Adonis and Alice's great-grandmother (2016–17)
• Papiya Sengupta as Queen Moora – Suryagupta's wife; Chhaya and Chandragupta's mother. (2016-2017)
• Sheeba Chaddha as Apama – Former Queen of Greece and Helena's mother. (2017)^[10]
• Chetan Hansraj as Maharaj Malayketu – Chhaya's second husband. (2016–2017)^[11]
• Rohit Choudhary as Vakranas.(2016)
• Urfi Javed / Piya Valecha as Princess Chhaaya – Suryagupta and Rajmata Moora's daughter; Chandragupta's sister; Malayketu's wife; Bhadraketu's mother. (2016–17)
• Ishaan Singh Manhas as Satyajeet – Chhaaya's first husband (2016)^[12]
• 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)^[12]
• Kristian Hedegaard Petersen 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)^[13]
• Pooja Banerjee as Princess "Vishaka" Vishkanya. (2017)^[14]
• Ahad Ali Aamir as Prince Bandhir (2017)
• Abhishek Nigam as Prince Bhadraketu - Parvatak Malayketu and Princess Chhaaya’s son, nephew of Chandragupta, Chitralekha's husband. (2017)
• Pragati Chourasiya as Princess Chitralekha - Princess of Champanagar; Bhadraketu's wife. (2017)
• Gautam Nain as Prince Adonis – Chandragupta and Helena’s son; Alice's brother; Bindusara's half-brother.
• Nirisha Basnett as Princess Alice – Chandragupta and Helena’s daughter; Adonis's sister; Bindusara's half-sister; Kartikey's wife (2017)
• Sheezan K as Prince Kartikay – Prince of Champanagar; Alice's husband (2017)
• Charmi Dhami as Princess Tilottama – Maadhav and Maalti’s daughter (2017)
• Lavina Tandon as Mohini - an enchantress (2017)
• Athar Siddiqui as Bheem Dev - Mohini's husband (2017)
• Rahul Sharma as Madhav Chandra's cousin brother)
• Garima Arora as Madhuram
• Vikas Singh Rajput

Production[]

This is regarded as one of the costliest series produced by Ekta Kapoor under Balaji Telefilms.^[15] 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.^[17]

In October 2016, about 300 horses were auditioned for a sequence for the lead Tokas.^[18]

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."^[19] 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."^[19]

In 2017, the storyline of the series took a leap.^[20] During which Siddharth Nigam joined the cast as Bindusara, Avneet Kaur as Charumati.^[21][22] The series ended in 10 November 2017, due to fluctuations in its viewership, with Chandragupta becoming a Buddhist monk.^[23] The shooting of the series was completed on 2 November 2017.^[24]

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.

— Shweta Basu Prasad^[25]

Filming[]

The initial scenes of the series was shot in the ancient locations of Magadh and Pataliputra in Patna.^[26] But, the series was mainly filmed in Mumbai.^[27]

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."^[28]

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."^[29]

Adaptations[]

The series was dubbed in Tamil aired on Star Vijay.^[30] In Sri Lanka, the show is broadcast in Sinhala on the Swarnavahini network. In Hindi the series airs in Malaysia on TV3.

Historical accuracy and inaccuracy[]

While the character of Chandragupta and some of the wars and conflicts shown are almost historically accurate, the character of Princess Nandni of Magadha itself along with her twin Roopa is considered completely fictional by many sources.^[31] Most historians said, Chandragupta married only twice, first to Durdhara who died while giving birth to Bindusara and years after he was married to daughter of Seleucus I Nicator (Helena as per the show) in a war-peace treaty.^[31] Queen Nandni as per the show is described as daughter of the real Mahapadma Nanda which is contradicted as there is no historical evidence. It has been said Nandni's characterization is based upon most of Durdhara character derived from historical texts, novelization and poetries.^[31] However there are several historical sources have been mentioned the existence of Queen Nandni, among them one evidence has found in 350 BC Greek Historian Megasthenes' book called Indika as he served as an Ambassador in Royal Court of Chandragupta Maurya.^[32] According to this Book Queen Nidarus (presumably Greek accent of Nandni) was Mahapadma Nanda / Dhana Nanda's daughter who was given to Samrat Chandragupta as a war-peace treaty.^[32] In that book, she is mentioned as a great warrior and a leader.^[32]

References[]

External links[]

• Chandra Nandni Streaming On Hotstar