Last updated: 14 April 2023

Follow Cinemania on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for updates and reviews on Indian films.

Film: Shaakuntalam (Telugu)

Directed by: Gunasekhar

Cast: Samantha, Dev Mohan, Sachin Khedekar, Aditi Balan, Ananya Nagalla, Gauthami, Mohan Babu, Madhoo, Allu Arha, Kabir Duhan Singh, Jisshu Sengupta, Prakash Raj

Highs: Story (Kālidāsa), Performances of Samantha and Dev Mohan, Mani Sharma’s background score, Allu Arha’s cameo, good casting and impressive costume design

Lows: Uninteresting screenplay (Gunasekhar), mediocre direction (Gunasekhar), ineffective dialogues, poor CGI and amateurish production design in the forest scenes

Cinemania rating: ★★☆☆☆

Detailed Review

Plot: Shaakuntalam revolves around Shakuntala (Samantha) who is abandoned as a baby in the forest by her mother – celestial nymph Menaka (Madhoo) – and is raised by sage Kaṇva (Sachin Khedekar) and Gautami (Gautami) in their hermitage. Shakuntala grows up as an innocent women unaware of the world outside the forest she lives in and the only love she experiences is towards her adoptive parents, female friends (Aditi Balan as Priyamvada, Ananya Nagalla as Anasuya) and animals around her. One day, Duṣyanta (Dev Mohan), the king of Hastināpura, stumbles over the hermitage whilst chasing wild animals and is instantly smitten by Shakuntala’s beauty. She is also attracted to the king. They enter into a relationship but Duṣyanta leaves her to take care of the kingdom, promising to come back later with the royal procession and escort her to his kingdom in a formal manner. Shakuntala, meanwhile, gets pregnant while waiting for the king who doesn’t return because he forgets her. The rest of the story is about how she reunites with Duṣyanta.

Performances: Samantha perfectly fits the role of the titular character, looking attractive and also brilliantly showcasing a wide variety of emotions – innocent at the beginning of the film, yearning to be with the king after falling in love with him, anger at being betrayed and the pain of childbirth. Dev Mohan does justice to his role as King Duṣyanta. The young Allu Arha steals the scene towards the end of the film. Among supporting characters, Sachin Khedekar is impressive as sage Kaṇva and Aditi Balan shines as Priyamvada.

Technical departments: The story of Shakuntala is widely known to those who have read the Mahabharata or watched the screen or TV adaptations of it. The latest film adaptation needed an intriguing screenplay to keep the audiences engaged to a well-known story, but director Gunasekhar weaves a bland screenplay devoid of any twists and relies too much on the scenery in and around the forest in an attempt to make the frames look grand and beautiful. However, the VFX is so poor and inconsistent that the background looks like painted cardboards in several scenes and the animals look cartoonish. For example, the first scene in which a group of birds carry baby Shakuntala gives the feeling of watching a 2D animation film. In the scene in which the children in the hermitage spot the baby between the branches and discuss about it, the background looks like a set on a stage play. In the climax scene, it starts to snow heavily in the forest but not a single drop of snow lands on the characters’ head or clothes. The only place where the VFX is consistent is the scene exploring the exteriors of the Hastināpura palace. The action scenes are poorly choreographed and again the poor VFX makes them look worse on the screen.

Apart from Samantha’s performance, Mani Sharma’s background score is the other saving grace of Shaakuntalam. The veteran composer, in his seventh collaboration with filmmaker Gunasekhar, delivers a praiseworthy background score throughout the film, however the songs are a mixed bag.

In summary, Shaakuntalam is let down by Gunasekhar’s outdated writing and direction. The first half is mostly boring but the second half is better and watchable once you are drawn into the story and used to the poor VFX.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Follow Cinemania on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for updates and reviews on Indian films.