Shaakuntalam Review

Shaakuntalam : What's Behind

Shaakuntalam starring Samantha an directed by GunaSekhar is racing for a spectacular release on 14 April 2023. The film is based on Kalidas written Abhignana Shakuntalam inspired by the epic Mahabharata and Samantha's newfound craze in Bollywood coupled with Gunasekhar's penchant for extravagant sets generating immense interest among movie lovers. The film's teasers and trailers got a good response. Makers are releasing the movie in 3D. That leads to increase interest of audience also. Shaakunthalam movie OTT rights have been bagged for a fancy amount by Amazon Prime and streaming will be after the completion of the theatrical run. Let us find out whether Shaakuntalam mesmerized movie lovers or not.

Shakuntalam Story Review

Shakuntalam is all about Shakuntala and her love affair with King Dushyant which resulted in the scripting of a new era in Bharat defining the destiny of new India. Shakuntala (Samantha) was abandoned by Menaka(Madhoo) after she breaks the penance of Viswamitra. She is named Shakuntala as she was saved by Shakunta birds and raised by Kanva Maharshi(Sachin Khedekar).

When he goes out to perform a yagna, King Dushyant (Dev Mohan) happens to meet her while saving the people of his kingdom from wild animals. They fall in love and Dushyant marries Shakuntala in Gandharva form and promises to take to her Kingdom after completing his important assignments like planning war strategies against Asuras.

In between shocking developments happen and where the love story of Shakuntala and Dushant ends, how Durvasa Maharshi (Mohan Babu), Kashyapa Marshi (Kabir Bedi), Indra (Jisshu Sengupta) and others are connected from the rest of the story.

Shaakuntalam Artists Review

Samantha worked hard for her role. She must be commended for accepting the role as it is mostly passive and meek. It is known that Kalidas described Shakuntala in Shakuntalam as innocent, honest, simple, susceptible, and easily gullible. She tried to show various emotions and expressions, like portraying her innocence and then getting carried away and falling in love and then showing her feelings when she was insulted in the Raj Darbar of Dushant. There are variations in the character of Shakuntala in the later part and Samantha showed bravery and courage in bringing up her son. Samantha looked elegant and exquisite and oozed with glamor most of the time. However, in some close shots, her age got exposed and she looked old.

Dev Mohan, a Malayalam actor who played the role of Dushyant, in a few scenes looked impressive with his dialogue delivery. He performed well during his interactions when he first meets Shakuntala and then in the climax when he meets his son Bharata. However, his personality did not inspire confidence in anyone. Despite his best efforts, he did not look Royal as the Emperor of Puru Vamsa and Hastinapur kingdom. His eyes showed innocence most of the time and that is the plus point but otherwise, he turned out to be the major drawback in the film.

Other actors got limited screen presence. Mohan Babu as Durvasa made his presence felt and so did Ananya Nagalla, Gautami, Madhoo, Kabir Bedi, Jisshu Sen Gupta, Kabir Duhan Singh, Subbaraju, and Harish Uttaman. Allu Arjun's daughter Allu Arha made her debut in the role of Prince Bharata. She looked cute and turned out to be a surprise package delivering lengthy dialogues at ease. Allu Arjun's fans will be happy with Allu Arha.

Shaakuntalam Movie Technicians Review

Shaakuntalam story readied by Gunasekhar is inspired by Adi Parva in Mahabharat and based on Kalidas' Abhigana Shakuntalam. Gunasekhar stayed true to the epic and starts the narration by showing the birth of Shakuntala in graphic form. He showed Shakuntala raised by various animals but there he could have shown Shakuntala predominantly raised by Shakunta birds. Though he showed birds flying, he failed to show them bringing up Shakuntala.

Dushyant is introduced in a chivalrous manner. But with Dev Mohan turning out to be a misfit, all the action sequences paled. Kalidas described Shakuntala as an epitome of womanhood and on the lines of Savitri and Sita. Her beauty was described by Kalidas as natural and even though dust falls on her, her beauty is not affected. However, here Shakuntala is shown wearing grand attire and not even a semblance of dust is shown on her despite leading a simple life in an ashram. Gunasekhar could have paid attention to such simple things.

Shakuntala is surrounded by various animals and when Kaildas described the entry of King Dushant into the ashram, he goes there to hunt animals. This means, Dushyant is the hunter and the prey here is Shakuntala. Shakuntala for all her innocence fell to Dushyant. This could have been shown in a subtle manner. He could have shown the Sriganara rasa of Shakuntala vs Veera Rasa of Dushyant in a more beautiful manner and this could have turned the film at least into a case study. But with Dev Mohan not looking like a Royal material in any manner, Gunasekhar lost the golden opportunity.

The first half ends after a few romantic scenes between Shakuntala and Dushyant and the war scenes between Dushyant and Asuras. The entire narration turned out to be flat with no real twists and turns. The screenplay turned predictable and the story offered nothing new. Dialogues also turned out to be ordinary. The second half trod the same line and it ended up giving a tedious experience to the viewers. The war scenes which are expected to thrill the viewers fell flat. The visuals looked below average and the action blocks looked silly.

Allu Arha's introduction excites his fans. She did full justice to her role on debut and cameup with a clap-worthy performance with her dialogue delivery. However one gets a feeling that Gunasekhar included more dialogues in the end for Allu Arha to make Allu Arjun and his fans happy. Gunasekhar should have taken a few cinematic liberties and added more drama to spice up Shaakuntalam.

Mani Sharma's songs are situational except for a few. The song Mallika Mallika is well shot and the lyrics are appealing. The dance choreography is good. Even Rushivanamlona is picturized beautifully. His background music is good and made an impact. Sekhar V Joesph's cinematography is good. He showed the serenity at the ashram quite well and at the same time showed the grand Kingdom of Dushyant. Editing of Prawin Pudi left many drags. The pace of the narration is slow and it tested the patience of the viewers. VFX and graphics turned out to be below average. They looked substandard and the so-called 3D experience turned out to be disastrous and hazardous. In fact, this spoiled the entire film-watching experience and turned everything into a huge negative feeling.

Sai Madhav's dialogues could have been more hard-hitting and impactful. Except for a couple of scenes where Kanva Maharsi shows faith in Dushyant, the Raj Darbar scene where Dushyant fails to recognize Shakuntala and Menaka talking about motherhood, few dialogues between Dushyant and Bharata, in other scenes they looked pretty ordinary. Production values of Gunaa Team Works are ok.

Shakuntalam : Advantages

• Samantha
• Few Dialogues
• BGM
• Couple of Songs

Shakuntalam : Disadvantages

• Dev Mohan
• Screenplay, Direction
• Flat Narration
• Slow Pace
• VFX
• Editing

Shaakuntalam Movie Rating Analysis

Altogether, Shaakuntalam turns out to be a disappointing outing with flat narration, predictable screenplay, and direction, Sai Madhav Burra's not-so-powerful dialogues and casting mismatch apart from Gunasekhar's penchant for 3D effects, undid all the good work. Gunasekhar and Samantha worked hard for the project but despite the spirited performance from Samantha who braved ill health. A little bit of fine-tuning of the script, including a few twists and turns, and adding drama could have helped the film a little bit. It seems Gunasekhar did not learn from the result of Rudramadevi where he opted to go for 3D and failed to make an impact. Considering all these elements, Cinejosh goes with a 2 rating for Shaakuntalam.