Tabu & Big B in Ashoka

Tabu and Big B created magic in Cheeni Kum despite of their age difference and now the awesome twosome are ready to rock Bollywood again by coming together for a period flick based on Mauryan Emperor Ashoka.

Apparently Jaya Bachchan was supposed to play the role of Queen Tishyarakshita which finally was bagged by Tabu. The movie will be directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi.Dwivedi reveals, “Tabu didn’t hesitate a moment to say yes to the role of the Emperor’s powerful wife who swayed the Mauryan empire with her beauty and politics. We needed an actress with the strength of conviction. Tishyarakshita was unique and such an extraordinary and enigmatic character has never found expression in our cinema.”Dwivedi adds, “History and its cinematic treatment demand the characters to be true to their antecedents. And Emperor Ashoka, who’s caught in his twilight years in my film, had to be played by Bachchan.Only he possesses the gravity, sobriety, wisdom and personality along with the age required. I wouldn’t make Ashoka without him. As for Tabu, she plays his young, fiery and assertive wife. Again, only she could play Tishyarakshita.”

The movie will be produced by Amitabh Bachchan’s ABCL company.