Daughter Rupali Ralhan Shah rememberers her late father-filmmaker O.P. Ralhan on his 20th death anniversary on April 20th, 2019. Fate might have cut short O.P Ralhan’s dreams, but now his daughter Rupalli Ralhan Shah and grandson Armaan Ralhan surely is fulfilling his dream of making Ashoka The Great sometime soon.

It all started when the veteran filmmaker O.P. Ralhan was working on his dream project Ashoka the Great until he breathed his last on 20th April 1999. This grand, global project had the blessings of the Dalai Lama himself. Over a decade of research & scripting, OP had completely immersed himself to recreate an epic era, featuring one of the Greatest Emperors of our country.

At a specially named Ashoka House in Cuffe Parade, Mumbai for more than a decade, the noted filmmaker ate, lived & breathed the life of Emperor Ashoka, whom he envisaged to bring alive on the big screen. Historians, researchers, designers & many more were part of the team that went on to create this project about the life of Ashoka.

When quizzed about the script, Rupali says, “The script is based on historical facts highlighting many facets of this great emperor’s life. My Dad was always ahead of his times, so the writing is very contemporary. However, we will get a team of noted creative professionals on board to steer the creative process in accordance with the norms and needs of the global OTT platform.”

On casting, Rupali shares, “Ever since Ashoka the Great was conceived, the original game plan was to cast a new actor. We will be assigning a top casting director to identify who would be best suited to play Ashoka.”

She also reveals about the director as to who will helm the film, “My dad believed in introducing new talent, giving them an opportunity in acting, directing, scripting, music & in every field of film making. I would love to work with a team of talented, still-not-so-known film makers, who would be interested in being part of bringing my dad’s dream alive.”