Shaakuntalam Review: Vulnerable Story Of A Strong Woman Samantha Shines As Shakuntla
Star Cast: Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Dev Mohan, Sachin Khedekar, Kabir Duhan Singh
Director: Gunasekhar
Where to Watch: In Theaters
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3/5 (three stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s film Shaakuntalam released today in theaters. Along with South Indian languages, the film has also been released in Hindi with a dubbed version. There are many such mythological stories, which have been read and heard through school education or religious texts. Such is the story of the love of King Dushyant and Shakuntala. The story of Shakuntala is scattered from the Adiparva of the Mahabharata to the Padmapurana and Kalidasa’s great work ‘Abhigyan Shankutalam’. Shakuntala means cones (birds) were shifted. Every writer has created the character of Shakuntala according to his own. Dushyant’s loss of memory is also used as an excuse by Durvasa Rishi in some places, but this is the story of a girl whose parents abandoned her at birth.
And whose guardian loves her more than her real daughter. This is also the story of Shakuntala, who became pregnant in the moments of love manifestation, seeking justice from her husband. Shakuntala, born from the love affair of Rishi Vishwamitra and Apsara Menaka, has two forms, one Shakuntala who gives physical darshan of Shringar Rasa and one Shakuntala who has to regain her self-respect. The most popular literary rendition of this story is the Sanskrit drama Abhigyana Shaakuntalam by the great poet Kalidasa, on which the Telugu cinema film Shaakuntalam is based. The story of India has emerged from this play. However, the story of Shakuntala-Dushyanta is originally written in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata.
Shaakuntalam Review: The Story Plot
begins with the birth of the film Shaakuntalam its main character i.e. Shakuntala. Time passes and the maiden Shakuntala and King Dushyant of Hastinapur come face to face. When Shakuntala’s guardian Kanva Rishi is not in the ashram, both of them have a direct introduction. Both have love. Both the Gandharvas marry. And Shakuntala becomes pregnant. Dushyant forgets his promise given in the excess of intimate moments. Dushyant refuses to recognize Shakuntala. The promise between the two is that only their progeny will sit on the throne of Hastinapur. And, these children are Bharata, after whom the country of India is named.
Shakuntala is the daughter of Maharishi Vishwamitra and the celestial nymph Menaka. He was abandoned by his parents in his childhood. Shakuntala, who grew up in the hermitage of sage Kanva, falls in love with King Dushyanta, who has come to the forest to hunt. Both the Gandharvas get married. Dushyant stays for some time and leaves promising that he will come back and take Shakuntala away grandly and loudly. One day angry Durvasa Rishi comes to Kanva Rishi’s ashram. Lost in the memory of Dushyant, Shakuntala cannot hear his voice, due to which the sage curses her in anger that the one in whose memory she is lost, will forget her. When Shakuntala comes to know that she has become pregnant, Kanva goes to King Dushyant on the advice of the sage, but due to the curse, the king does not recognize her, and Shakuntala returns. She can meet the king only after the curse is over.
Shaakuntalam Review and Analysis
If we read the story of Shakuntala carefully, here too, like other mythological stories, the writers of this story have already created false stories everywhere to prove the innocence of its male character Dushyant. But, despite this, this is the first such established story of women empowerment in mythology in which a woman takes a vow to fight for justice for her son from a king who is fascinated by her looks. It is a matter of fact that due to the ring found by the fisherman; the story reaches its end by coming to a happy turn. But Gunasekhar, the writer and director of the film Shaakuntalam failed to understand the undercurrent of this story. The selection of Samantha Ruth Prabhu for the title role of the film is also a big mistake. Samantha’s bargain build and physique don’t look like a sage girl born in the woods.
Samantha is beautiful but in the form of a graceful woman, Beauty, and makeup are not in them. He also fails to reveal the core of Shakuntala’s character. But since the main focus of the film is on Shakuntala. Dushyant’s character is not developed properly due to a lack of script. The Hindi dubbing of both the lead characters is also not very effective. Some famous actors in Hindi cinema have also been roped in to establish the film’s relationship with Hindi-speaking areas, but none of them leave an impact except Prakash Raj. Yes, the performance of Allu Arha, daughter of actor Allu Arjun, who plays the character of Bharat, is amazing.
His childlike innocence and the natural radiance on his face give strength to his character. The work done by Allu Arha in the climax of the film wins the hearts of the audience. Except for Prakash Raj, none of them leave an impact. Yes, the performance of Allu Arha, daughter of actor Allu Arjun, who plays the character of Bharat, is amazing. His childlike innocence and the natural radiance on his face give strength to his character. The work done by Allu Arha in the climax of the film wins the hearts of the audience. Except for Prakash Raj, none of them leave an impact. Yes, the performance of Allu Arha, daughter of actor Allu Arjun, who plays the character of Bharat, is amazing. His childlike innocence and the natural radiance on his face give strength to his character. The work done by Allu Arha in the climax of the film wins the hearts of the audience.
This story is not new to the Indian audience. The biggest challenge is to present such a story on the screen, which is known by all. Imagination has to be done to create such scenes, which keep the interest of the viewer and surprise him. But Shakuntala is weak in this matter. Written-directed by Gunasekhar, the visuals of Shaakuntalam look very colorful, but they do not have that edge to not let the viewer move. Like Disney’s fantasy films, they have been groomed and made real. Jungles, animals, and birds have been created through VFX. However, due to weak VFX in some places, the visuals have not been able to leave an impact.
The problem with Hindi dubbing is that there is no balance in the languages. In some places, the language of the dialogue does not match the mythological theme of the film. The film is very slow before the interval. The love scenes between Shakuntala and Dushyant lack depth, for which this story is immortal. Samantha has done her part well, while Dev Mohan in Dushyant’s character has also tried his best, but both together do not leave a mark. It seems that due to the focus on technology, the strong points of the story have been left behind. The presence of Allu Arjun’s daughter Aaraha has been effective. This is Arha’s first film.
The more times this centuries-old love story is heard, the more we get lost in it. A woman who gets ups and downs and sorrows at every moment of life from birth. This story of Shankutala has been fabricated in a very effective way in the Abhijnana Shaakuntalam of Mahakavi Kalidas. In the film Shakuntmal, an attempt has been made to show this story grandly. the story begins, With the love story of Rishi Vishwamitra breaking his penance and Apsara Menaka. Devraj Indra sends Menaka to break Vishwamitra’s penance. Maneka becomes successful in her work, but she falls in love with Vishwamitra. A daughter is born to both of them, whose name is Shakuntala. After the birth of a daughter, Apsara Menaka leaves her husband and daughter and goes to Devlok. Kanva adopts Maharishi Shakuntala. Shakutala grows up in his ashram.
On meeting King Dushyant, Shakuntala falls in love with him. Both the Gandharvas get married. Dushyant leaves after a few days and promises Shakuntala that he will take her to his kingdom with respect. Kanva Maharishi sends Shakuntala to Durvasa Rishi. Lost in Dushyant’s thoughts, Shakuntala has to face the curse of Durvasa. When Dushyant does not come to pick her up, she reaches his court. Dushyant not only refuses to recognize them but also insults them. Where does Shakuntala go after being insulted by her husband, and how does her son Bharat meet his father? Gunasekhar has told this story in his style.
Samantha is seen as very beautiful and effective as the main character of the film. Talking about acting, Samantha has presented the character of Shakuntala very well on the screen. Dialogue in the film could have been made more effective. Dev Mohan is also good in the role of Dushyant, he has done justice to his character. Along with Samantha, the film’s second attraction Allu Arha’s entry has seen a different energy in the story. Sachin Khedekar, Prakash Raj, Gautami, and Ananya have also been successful in impressing the audience by doing full justice to their characters.
Talking about the technical aspect of the film, Gunasekhar as a director has tried his best to show grandeur in the film. It can be said that the director has been successful to a great extent in this. In showing the already-established characters, Gunasekhar did not stray from the story anywhere. Though the dialogues of the film are not that impressive, it is a pleasant experience to watch the film on the big screen. Talk about VFX in the film, then the film has been seen beating them. Because now the scale has become a bit high for VFX. Nevertheless, the beautiful visuals are a major highlight of the film. Along with Gunasekhar’s vision, the credit also goes to cinematographer Shekhar Joseph. Must watch this story for the acting of Samantha and Allu Arha. If you like beautiful stories and watching this story that you have been hearing since childhood on screen, then you can watch this film. In this beautiful story to be seen with the family has to be seen at least once.
Shaakuntalam Review: The Last Words
Technically the film Shaakuntalam is not great but decent to watch. If the film had to be dubbed and released in Hindi, then the services of at least some established actors should have been taken in it. Irrespective of the impact of the film’s music in the original language, Mani Sharma, who has been composing music for films dubbed in Hindi, has completely failed to understand the spirit of the film and the importance of music in its narrative here. A large part of the film was shot in the studio with green and blue curtains, and instead of these curtains, the efforts to give a mythological look to the film by replacing these curtains with sets made virtually during editing have not been successful. The film Shaakuntalam looks like a half-cooked film whose recipe was known to its director but he forgot to use balanced spices in making it.
