Chandragupta Maurya (2018 TV series)

The show starts in 323 BCE, exactly after the deaths of Porus and Alexander The Great. Alexander's general Seleucus Nikator is still in India, having allied himself with Ambhikumar (ruler of Takshashila). Chandragupta is a slave, and is supported in his antics by his friends. Chanakya arrives in Magadha, ruled by the unjust and cruel Nanda king Dhana Nanda to seek his help in overthrowing the Greeks out of India, but Dhana Nanda openly humiliates Chanakya in the court, which prompts the latter to take a vow of uprooting him from the throne and putting a capable ruler on the throne of Magadha. Chanakya soon finds Chandragupta, and recognises him as someone who would be an able ruler of Magadha, and be responsible for a change in India. Chanakya trains Chandragupta, and the latter comes to know of his lineage. His father Chandravardhan was the king of the Piplivan Kingdom, but the kingdom was destroyed and Chandravardhan was killed by Dhana Nanda, and Chandragupta, a young prince, was sent away safely and sold as a slave, and his mother Mura was held captive. Together, Chanakya forms a small army, and they face Dhana Nanda, but lose. They later capture a fort, but they (Chanakya, Chandragupta, Mura and Sthoolbhadra - a friend of Chandragupta) are presumed dead in the siege, but actually the 4 escape. The duo of Chanakya and Chandragupta are later thrown into a pit by Seleucus and Ambhikumar (now Ambhiraj) when they tried to seek their help. Mura and Sthoolbhadra fail to save them, hence they are presumed dead by them too.

• Pooja Sharma as River Jhelum, the Narrator
• Faizal Khan as Chandragupta Maurya, former Prince of Piplivan, king of Magadha, first emperor of the Maurya Empire.[8][9]
• Kartikey Malviya as young Chandragupta Maurya.[10][11][12]
• Tarun Khanna as Chanakya, a scholar from Takshashila, Chandragupta's adviser, Prime Minister of Magadha.[13]
• Raj Routh as Writer Megasthenes
• Aditi Sanwal as Durdhara, Chandragupta’s love interest and later wife, Dhananand’s sister, Former Princess of Magadha, Queen of the Maurya Empire, and Bindusara’s mother.
  
• Pranali Ghoghare as Young Durdhura
  
• Sneha Wagh as Moora, former queen of Piplivan, Chandragupta's mother.[14][15]
• Dinesh Mehta as Pandup, Dhana Nanda's elder brother.
• Vinit Kakar as Kaivarta, Dhana Nanda's elder brother.[16]
• Raman Thukral as Malayketu, the son of King Purushottam and Queen Lachi, and the king of Paurava Kingdom.
• Unknown as Rudradev Singh, the commander-in-chief and governor of Paurava Kingdom
• Pragati Mehra as Dai Maa, Dhana Nanda's foster mother, Bhadrasaal and Shipra's mother.
• Vishal Nayak as Chandravardhan Maurya, former king of Piplivan, Chandragupta's father.
• Vikas Verma / Vishal Malhotra as Seleucus I Nicator, Alexander the Great's former General, first emperor of the Seleucid Empire.
• Saurabh Raj Jain as Dhana Nanda, king of Magadha, last emperor of Nanda Empire, sworn enemy of Chanakya.[17][18]
• Nimai Bali as Amatya Rakshas, Prime Minister of Magadha.
• Kaivalya Chaddha as Sthoolbhadra, friend of Chandragupta (Shayank Shukla as young Sthoolbhadra).

• Barkha Sengupta as Tarini, Dhana Nanda's wife and queen of Magadha. [19][20]
• Kamaljeet Rana as Bhadrasaal, commander-in-chief of the Nanda army, brother of Shipra and foster-brother of Dhana Nanda
• Atharv Pandey as Dhoomketu, friend of Chandragupta
• Harsh Mehta as Indrajanik, friend of Chandragupta
• Ankur Nayyar as Ambhiraj, the king of Takshashila, and son of Ambhiraj I
• Vivek Vallah as the Rajguru of Paurava Kingdom
• Rohit Chandel as Ambhikumar, the prince of Takshashila
• Brownie Parashar as Mahapadma Nanda, former King of Magadha, Dhana Nanda's father.
• Sumbul Touqueer as Shubhada, Sukhdev's daughter and Chandragupta's friend.
• Abhilash Chaudhary as Agnimukh, an expert swordsman, former soldier in the Piplivan Army.
• Devesh Sharma as Martand, son of Jagat Jala and prince of Paraspura, a friend of Chandragupta.
• Yogesh Mahajan as Durgam Daga, the evil brother of Jagat Jala.

The show was largely well-received. Writing for Zoom, Anusha Iyengar praised Sourabh Raj Jain's portrayal of Dhana Nanda and, based on the first episode, wrote, "Chandragupta Maurya enjoys a good narration and a brilliant set design. The visuals are appealing and dialogues are even better."[21] However, Anil Merani for IWM Buzz pointed out that the makers had added lot of fiction to history, for there is no record to the link of Porus, Chanakya and Magadh.[22]

• Chandragupta Maurya on IMDb