Sri Venkateswara Creations and Gunaa Teamworks’ Shaakuntalam (dubbed from the Telugu film of the same name; UA) is based on the Hindu mythological story of Shakuntala and Dushyant.
King Dushyant (Dev Mohan) falls head over heels in love with Shakuntala (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) in the forest and marries her. While leaving the forest, Dushyant gives Shakuntala a royal ring as a sign of his love for her. He promises to return for her.
Shakuntala often day-dreams about Dushyant. One day, Shakuntala is unaware that sage Durvasa (Mohan Babu) is standing outside her house as she is day-dreaming about her husband. Taking this as a personal insult, Durvasa curses Shakuntala that the person she was dreaming about would forget about her altogether. Sage Durvasa later modifies his curse by adding that the person would remember everything provided he saw a personal token that he had given her.
To Shakuntala’s misfortune, she loses the ring Dushyant had given her, while she is on the way to his palace. Obviously, because of the curse, Dushyant can’t remember her or the fact that he had married or ever met her, when Shakuntala tells him at his palace that she is pregnant with his child. Incensed, Dushyant banishes Shakuntala from his kingdom.
Years later, Dushyant remembers all about his marriage to Shakuntala, when he sees the ring he had given her as a token of his love. How he apologises to her and accepts her and their kid forms the climax.
Gunasekhar has written a story based on the mythological tale of yore. His screenplay before the interval is boring and slow-paced. It, therefore, doesn’t quite hold the audience’s attention. Things improve in the second half which has more drama. However, there aren’t too many high points. Naresh Namdev’s dialogues are alright but should have been more punch-packed.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu does quite well in the title role. She looks pretty. Dev Mohan performs ably as King Dushyant. He looks very handsome. Sachin Khedekar is okay as sage Kanva. Mohan Babu makes a mark as sage Durvasa. Aditi Balan (as Priyamvada), Ananya Nagalla (as Anasuya), Gautami (as Gautami), Kabir Bedi (as sage Kashyap), Kabir Duhan Singh (as King Asura) and Varshini Sounderajan (as Sanumathi) are adequate. Prakash Raj looks out of place in a brief role as the boat man. Madhoo looks bewitching as Menaka. Jishu Sengupta attracts attention with his performance and physique as Indra Dev. Allu Arha is cute as Prince Bharat. Others lend the desired support.
Gunasekhar’s direction is ordinary. He has concentrated more on form and presentation but not enough on content. Mani Sharma’s music needed to be far better. Prashant Ingole’s lyrics are not easy on the lips. Raju Sundaram’s choreography is eye-filling. Background music (by Mani Sharma and Tubby) is pretty impactful. Shekar V. Joseph’s cinematography is fantastic. The 3D effects are appealing. Venkat and King Solomon’s action and stunt scenes are fairly thrilling. Ashok’s sets are excellent. Prawin Pudi’s editing is loose. Dubbing is nice.
On the whole, Shaakuntalam is so dull in the first half that even despite a more promising second half, it will go largely unnoticed at the box-office.
Released on 14-4-’23 at Inox (in 3D; daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: ordinary. Opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak everywhere.