Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s Shaakuntalam is one of the most highly awaited movies. The movie is based on Kalidasa’s most acclaimed play Shakuntala which tells her story. Many versions of this play are known but Kalidasa’s remain a classic. The film starring Samantha also features Dev Mohan in the role of Dushyant, whereas Mohan Babu, Aditi Balan, Madhoo, Gautami, and Ananya Nagalla also essay prominent roles. This mythological drama film is helmed and written by Gunasekhar, who is one of the notable filmmakers of south India. The Shaakuntalam trailer was dropped on January 9, 2023, and here are all the details about it.
Shakuntala is introduced as the world’s first daughter who was rejected by her parents. She was the lovechild of Rishi Vishwamitra and apsara Menaka who is given shelter by Rishi Kanva. The trailer moves on to give a glimpse into how Shakuntala came to meet King Dushyant who fell madly in love with her that they got married then and there in the forest where he was on his hunting expedition.
But he had to return to his kingdom and resume his kingly duties leaving Shakuntala behind. As the original story goes, he gives her a ring for when she will return to his kingdom so that he can recognise her as his wife. But things never go as planned in mythology, as a lot of curses and boons come into play, and Dushyant ends up forgetting her and rejects her as well. Shakuntala was also pregnant with his child, then.
Honestly, the trailer looks solid and promising. Samantha looks every bit like the sweet maiden, Shakuntala. Her body language and her mannerisms prove that she has done a lot of research to get into the skin of the character. Her ecstasy at getting married to Dev Mohan and her anguish at being rejected by him is evident lear on her face. Dev Mohan looks great in the role of Dushyant as well. But the chemistry between Samantha and Dev Mohan is off. Of course, it is a mythological drama and there is a limit to which these things can be shown. But their rapport does not look very happening.
From the trailer, the VFX of the film look good. They’re not childish and depict what and how things looked like back in that time. The costumes and the clothing also look great in terms of colours and patterns. Showing mythological dramas on the silver screen is never an easy job, and from Shaakuntalam’s trailer, it looks like the audience will have nothing to be disappointed about from the film.
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Shaakuntalam will release in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam. Its release date has not been announced yet.