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Shaakuntalam is a 2023 Indian Telugu language-language mythological romantic drama film written and directed by Gunasekhar. It is produced by Neelima Guna under Gunaa Teamworks and distributed by Sri Venkateswara Creations. Based on a popular play Abhignyana Shakuntalam by Kalidasa, the film features Samantha in the title role of Shakuntala and Dev Mohan as Dushyanta, the king of Lunar dynasty along with Mohan Babu, Jisshu Sengupta, Madhoo, Gautami, Aditi Balan and Ananya Nagalla in supporting roles. In the film, Shakuntala and King Dushyanta marry, but Dushyanta forgets all about Shakuntala due to a sage's curse.
The project was announced in October 2020 by Gunasekhar. The film's production began in February 2021 at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad and ended in August 2021. The film was made on a budget of crore. It is shot extensively around Hyderabad, including Ramoji Film City, Ananthagiri Hills, and Gandipet lake.
Shaakuntalam was theatrically released on 14 April 2023 to negative reviews from critics and was a box office failure.
In her solitude, Shakuntala was absorbed in thoughts of her husband, due to which she failed to offer the appropriate hospitality to the short-tempered sage, Durvasa. Durvasa cursed her, stating that the man she was thinking of to such an extent that he had been neglected would never remember her. One of Shakuntala's friends, Anasuya, offered an explanation of her friend's absent-mindedness, and sought forgiveness from the sage. Duravasa agreed to offer a concession of the curse, stating that the man would remember her upon the presentation of a token of recognition. Shakuntala's companions did not reveal this curse to her, reasoning that it did not matter; Shakuntala did, after all, have such a token of recognition, so her husband would no doubt recall her. Kanva returned to his ashrama, and offered his consent for the marriage. The curse took effect, and Dushyanta lost all memory of Shakuntala. When Shakuntala started to show signs of pregnancy, Kanva decided to send her to her lawful husband, explaining to her the duties of a wife and a daughter-in-law.On the way, they had to cross a river by a canoe ferry and, seduced by the deep blue waters of the river, Shakuntala ran her fingers through the water. Her ring (Dushyanta's ring) slipped off her finger without her realizing it. Upon reaching the king's palace, Dushyanta failed to recognise Shakuntala, and merely expressed his incredulity when the accompanying sages urged him to accept her as his queen. Shakuntala searched for the ring that the king had presented her during their parting, but realised that it had been lost during the journey. While leaving the hall, the anguished Shakuntala is carried off by an apsara. After a while, the ring that Shakuntala had dropped in a pool of water was discovered by a fisherman inside a fish, which was produced before Dushyanta following accusations of theft. Durvasa's curse was broken upon the king seeing the ring, and his memory of his wife was restored. He immediately set out to find her and, arriving at her father's ashram, discovered that she was no longer there. He continued deeper into the forest to find his wife and came upon a surprising scene in the forest: a young boy had pried open the mouth of a lion and was busy counting its teeth. The king greeted the boy, amazed by his boldness and strength, and asked his name. He was surprised when the boy answered that he was Bharata, the son of King Dushyanta. The boy took him to Shakuntala, and thus the family was reunited.
Later in the year, Malayalam film actor Dev Mohan and Telugu film actress Eesha Rebba were approached for the film, with Mohan reportedly playing Dushyanta and Eesha Rebba supposed character unknown. In March 2021, media mentioned that Rebba has walked out of the project due to several reason. In March 2021, Samantha has taken her social media to announce that Dev Mohan is officially a part of the project as Dushyanta. Veteran actor Mohan Babu was also cast in the film. He was reportedly playing the hot-tempered Durvasa and Aditi Balan was replacing Rebba in the film. It was reported that both Gautami and Prakash Raj was also featuring in Shaakuntalam.
Reports came around that the director will be approaching Jr NTR's son Abhay Ram or Allu Arjun's son Allu Ayaan to feature in as Shakuntala's son Bharata, but Allu Arjun's daughter Allu Arha is having her maiden debut in this production as said character. Actress Ananya Nagalla Varshini Sounderajan confirmed of being a part in the film through respective interviews while actress Madhoo also joined the cast.Kabir Duhan Singh also joined the cast to play the role of King Asura.
The first schedule of filming was started in late March with Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Dev Mohan, and Aditi Balan at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad. But due to the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in India, the shooting was halted towards the end of June. During an interview, Gunasekhar has stated that almost 50% of filming has been completed on late June. The shooting will be recommenced during the end of June back at Annapurna Studios, then later in Ramoji Film City. Reportedly, Samantha Ruth Prabhu joined the second schedule of filming along with Dev Mohan and Aditi Balan. Several scenes were shot in Ananthagiri Hills and Vikarabad with actor Dev Mohan. Several scenes were shot in Gandipet lake in July 2021. The filming was finished on the last week of August 2021 at Annapurna Studios.
Khushboo Ratda of Pinkvilla rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Samantha's image needed far smarter writing". Dishya Sharma of News 18 rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and stated that the film suffers with "Weak writing and undercooked VFX". The Hans India rated the film 2 out of 5 and wrote "Gunasekhar fails to bring enough drama to the proceedings to hold the attention". Sakshi Post gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5 and termed the film as "wasted opportunity". Raghu Bandi of The Indian Express rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote " The only letdown is this particular subject is hardly the right material for the current generation". Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute rated 1.5 out of 5 and wrote "Samantha tries her best to move the audience, but there's only so much an actor can do when attempting to stay afloat in a tsunami of bad writing." Sanchita Jhunjhunwala of Zoom TV rated the film 1.5 out of 5 and wrote "Gunasekhar establishes very early on in the movie as to how he intends on taking it forward, but the fact that the movie does not have any plot point that keeps you hooked is one of the many things that works against it." Sanchita Jhunjhunwala of Times Now rated the film 1.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "This Gunasekhar directorial fails to create an impact with its poor storytelling and VFX that fails to work". Deepa Gahlot of Rediff.com have the film a rating of 1.5 out of 5 and termed love story of Shakuntala and Dushyant as "So familiar from textbooks, comics, stage and screen versions".
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