Asoka (Devanagari: अशोक,Urdu: اشوک) is a 2001 Bollywood film, a historical drama. It is a largely fictional version of the life of the Indian emperor Ashoka, of the Maurya dynasty, who ruled much of South Asia from 273 BCE to 232 BCE. The film was directed by Santosh Sivan and stars Shahrukh Khan as Ashoka and Kareena Kapoor as Kaurwaki, a princess of Kalinga. Tamil star Ajith made a special appearance as Susima, brother of Asoka. The screenplay was written by Santosh Sivan and Saket Chaudhary and the dialogue by Abbas Tyrewala. It was originally released as Ashoka The Great in India. The Tamil release title is Samrat Ashoka. The film was produced by Shahrukh Khan's production company Dreamz Unlimited.