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Shaakuntalam

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Shaakuntalam is an upcoming Indian Telugu-language historical drama film[1] 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 titular role of Shakuntala and Dev Mohan as Dushyanta, the king of Puru dynasty along with Mohan Babu, Jisshu Sengupta, Madhoo, Gautami, Aditi Balan and Ananya Nagalla in supporting roles.

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 80 crores[2] and shot extensively around Hyderabad, including Ramoji Film City, Ananthagiri Hills, and Gandipet Lake. The film is scheduled for a theatrical release on 14 April 2023.

Premise[]

Abhijnanasakuntalam, a play written by Kalidasa, is one of the masterpieces of world literature. It is thrilling love story of the exquisitely beautiful Shakuntala and the mighty king Dushyanta. Dushyanta is the hero of the play. He possesses almost all the qualities of a brave and nobel minded hero.

Cast[]

  • Samantha Ruth Prabhu as Shakuntala[3]
  • Dev Mohan as Dushyanta[4]
  • Sachin Khedekar[5] as Kanva Maharishi
  • Mohan Babu as Durvasa Maharishi[6]
  • Aditi Balan as Priyamvada[7]
  • Ananya Nagalla as Anasuya[8]
  • Prakash Raj as Sarangi[9]
  • Gautami as Gautami[9]
  • Madhoo as Menaka[9]
  • Kabir Bedi[10] as Kashyapa Maharishi
  • Jisshu Sengupta as Indra Deva[11]
  • Kabir Duhan Singh as King Asura[12][13]
  • Allu Arha as Prince Bharata[14]
  • Varshini Sounderajan[15]
  • Harish Uthaman
  • Subbaraju

Production[]

Development[]

In 2017, director Gunasekhar announced a magnum opus Hiranya Kashyapa with Rana Daggubati as the lead. The film was based on the famous historical epic tale of the Asura, Hiranyakashipu. In October 2020, the director announced that the pre-production of Hiranya Kashyapa was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the shooting process of the film will not start in the near future.[16] Later in November, Gunasekher announced the film based on Kalidasa's 4th century play Shakuntala which tells the story of the legendary princess Shakuntala and king Dushyanta.[17]

Casting[]

File:Shaakuntalam Launch on March.png

The cast and crew of Shaakuntalam at the film's launch during March 2021 at Annapurna Studios. The cast and crew being Dil Raju, Hanshitha Reddy, Mani Sharma, Dev Mohan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Allu Aravind, Neelima Guna and Gunasekhar (l-r)

Soon after the announcement, reports suggested that the makers have approached actress Anushka Shetty for the lead role of Shakuntala after the collaboration of the actress and director Gunasekhar in the 2015 historical drama, Rudhramadevi which did not materialize.[18] During December 2020, actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu was confirmed to be cast as the lead actress to portray Shakuntala.[3]

Later in the year, Malayalam actor Dev Mohan and Telugu actress Eesha Rebba were approached for the film,[19] with Mohan reportedly playing Dushyant and Eesha Rebba supposed character unknown. In March 2021, media mentioned that Rebba has walked out of the project due to several reason.[4] In March 2021, Samantha has taken her social media to announce that Dev Mohan is officially a part of the project as Dushyant.[20] Veteran actor Mohan Babu was also cast in the film.[6][21] He was reportedly playing the hot-tempered Durvasa Maharishi and Aditi Balan was replacing Rebba in the film.[22] 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,[23] but Allu Arjun's daughter Allu Arha is having her maiden debut in this production as said character.[14] Actress Ananya Nagalla and Varshini Sounderajan confirmed of being a part in the film through respective interviews[15] while actress Madhoo also joined the cast.[24]Kabir Duhan Singh also joined the cast to play the role of King Asura.

Filming[]

The film is set in the Northern of India in the backdrop of Hastinapr, parts of Kashmir and the banks of Himalaya. Makers have signed art director Ashok Kolarath to handle the set.[25] The team has also hired National Awardee fashion designer Neeta Lulla who has also worked with Gunasekhar in Rudhramadevi.[26] The pooja and the principal photography of Shaakuntalam was kickstarted on 15 March 2021 at Annapurna Studios.[27] It was revealed that Sekhar V. Joseph and Bishwadeep Chatterjee was also signed in for the project to handle the cinematography and sound design for the film respectively.[28]

The first schedule of filming was started on late March with Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Dev Mohan and Aditi Balan at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad.[29][30] 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.[31] The shooting will be recommenced during the end of June back at Annapurna Studios, then later in Ramoji Film City.[32] Reportedly, Samantha Ruth Prabhu joined the second schedule of filming along with Dev Mohan and Aditi Balan.[33] Several scenes were shot in Ananthagiri Hills and Vikarabad Forests with actor Dev Mohan. Several scenes were shot in Gandipet Lake in July 2021.[34] The filming was finished on the last week of August 2021 at Annapurna Studios.[35]

Post-production[]

The visual and graphics department is handled by industry professional Alagarsamy Maayan, with talents from Canada, Hong Kong and China working on the VFX to get the visualisation right. Director Gunasekhar has confirmed that the post production might be longer than 10 months, considering the vision of the director to be met.[36] Samantha completed her dubbing portions in April 2022.[9]She is dubbing for herself in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. The makers reported in January 2022 that Allu Arha had completed the dubbing for her role for the film.[37][38]

Soundtrack[]


Shaakuntalam
Soundtrack album by
Mani Sharma
Released2023
StudioAnnapurna Studios
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length21:36
LanguageTelugu
LabelTips

The film's music for all versions is composed by Mani Sharma.[39]


Telugu
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Mallika Mallika"Chaitanya PrasadRamya Behara5:20
2."Rushivanamlona"Sri ManiChinmayi Sripaada, Sid Sriram4:47
3."Yelelo Yelelo"Chaitanya PrasadAnurag Kulkarni6:00
4."Madhura Gathamaa"ShreemaniArmaan Malik, Shreya Ghoshal5:29
Total length:21:36

Template:Track listTemplate:Track listTemplate:Track listTemplate:Track list

Release[]

Shaakuntalam was scheduled to be released theatrically on 4 November 2022 alongside dubbed versions in Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada but was later postponed due to the film being chosen to be converted into 3D format.[40][41][42] .The creators of Shaakuntalam announced that the film will not hit the screens on February 17 and they will share the new release date soon. [43] On 10 February 2023, a new release date was announced as 14 April 2023.

Reception[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Samantha to headline Gunasekhar's 'Shakuntalam'". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 2 January 2021. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 31 March 2021.CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ↑ dos
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Samantha Akkineni to headline Shaakuntalam". Cinema Express. 1 January 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Eesha Rebba: Shaakuntalam did not happen because of many factors (en) (2021-03-19).
  5. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Samantha's 'Shaakuntalam' to release on November 4". The Hindu. 23 September 2022. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Samantha Akkineni's Shakuntalam: Mohan Babu to play a key supporting role? (en) (18 March 2021).
  7. ↑ Heroes are done, now it's the time for producers! (en-US) (2021-03-15).
  8. ↑ dos
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Hymavathi, Ravali (2022-04-17). Samantha Wrapped Up Her Dubbing Part Of Gunasekhar's Shaakuntalam Movie.
  10. ↑ శాకుంతలం: కీలకపాత్రలో బాలీవుడ్ నటుడు (te) (2021-08-06).
  11. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Samantha's 'Shaakuntalam' to release on November 4". The Hindu. 23 September 2022. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  12. ↑ Kabir Duhan Singh on his working exprience in Shaakuntalam.
  13. ↑ कबीर दुहान सिंह ने पूरी की 'शकुंतलम' की शूटिंग! (2021-08-25).
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Janani K. (15 July 2021). "Allu Arjun's daughter Arha to make her acting debut with Samantha's Shaakuntalam". India Today. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Adivi, Sashidhar (2021-07-25). Varshini Sounderajan joins Samantha's Shakuntalam (en).
  16. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Rana Daggubati's Hiranyakashyap put on the back burner, confirms director Gunasekhar". Hindustan Times. 9 October 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  17. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Revealed: Interesting facts about Gunasekhar's next Shaakuntalam - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  18. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Anushka Shetty in Gunasekhar Shakuntalam?". Tollywood.net. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  19. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Eesha Rebba grabs a prominent role in Shaakuntalam". Telugu Cinema. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  20. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Shaakuntalam: Samantha Akkineni finds her 'Prince Charming' in Dev Mohan". The Indian Express. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  21. ↑ Mohan Babu on board for Samantha Akkineni's Shaakuntalam? (en) (March 17, 2021).
  22. ↑ 'Aruvi' Actress In Samantha's Shaakuntalam (en-US) (2021-04-06).
  23. ↑ Talk of the Town: Abhay Ram Or Allu Ayaan In Shakuntalam? (en-US) (2021-06-09).
  24. ↑ Madhoo: I missed wearing make-up and being creative (2022-01-26).
  25. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Grand set works on for Samantha Akkineni's 'Shaakuntalam'". Indiaglitz. 23 January 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  26. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Pic Talk: 'Devdas' designer Neeta Lulla teams up with Samantha for 'Shakuntalam'". E Times. 8 January 2021.
  27. ↑ Shaakuntalam: Samantha Akkineni and Dev Mohan make for a gorgeous pair at the launch of their pan-India film (en) (2021-03-16).
  28. ↑ Technical crew of Shaakuntalam (en) (2021-03-17).
  29. ↑ Dev Mohan's Instagram photo: "Shaakuntalam 🤍 Rolling 🎬 @samantharuthprabhuoffl @neelima_guna @gunasekhar1 #dilraju #shakuntalam #epiclovestory #mythology" (en).
  30. ↑ Neelima Guna on the final preparation on Shaakuntalam (en).
  31. ↑ dos
  32. ↑ Neelima Guna on the resumption of shooting for Shaakuntalam and the safety regulation followed in the sets (en).
  33. ↑ Shooting for Samantha Akkineni's Shaakuntalam resumes again post lockdown in Hyderabad - Times of India (en).
  34. ↑ Shaakuntalam gets permission at Gandipet lake (en-US).
  35. ↑ Hymavathi, Ravali (2021-08-24). It's A Wrap For Gunasekhar and Samantha's Shaakuntalam (en).
  36. ↑ Shaakuntalam: Samantha Ruth Prabhu's upcoming mythological epic drama enters the post-production phase (en) (3 January 2022).
  37. ↑ Adorable: Allu Arha dubs for Shaakuntalam (en-US) (2023-01-19).
  38. ↑ Nair, Nivedita (2023-01-19). Allu Arjun shared daughter Arha's pic from dubbing session (en-US).
  39. ↑ Shaakuntalam's Mallika Mallika: The Samantha Ruth Prabhu song is all about a woman's longing for her lover (en) (2023-01-18).
  40. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Samantha's 'Shaakuntalam' to release on November 4". The Hindu. PTI. 23 September 2022. ISSN 0971-751X.CS1 maint: others (link)
  41. ↑ Shaakuntalam Motion Poster Out: Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Dev Mohan Film Set To Release On Nov 4.
  42. ↑ Samanatha Ruth Prabhu's Shaakuntalam to now release in 3D; new release date to be announced soon (en) (2022-09-29).
  43. ↑ Samantha Ruth Prabhu reveals toughest part of shooting for 'Shakuntalam', don't miss her quirky caption (9 January 2023).

External links[]

Template:Gunasekhar Template:Shakuntala

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