Shaakuntalam Movie in iBOMMA. Menaka and Vishwamitra gave birth to Shakuntala, but Sage Kanwa reared her at his ashram. She becomes engaged to the Hastinapur king Dushyanta in a gandharwa vivaaham after falling in love with him.
He makes a subsequent commitment to take her to his country, but he never shows up. When Shakuntala, who is pregnant, visits him, she is startled to learn that he doesn’t know her. All about Shaakuntalam—what motivated him to act that way and how Shakuntala managed to win him back.
Performence
Despite Samantha’s best efforts, she was unable to successfully fill the post. Her use of language takes the stage, making the performance unremarkable. Dev Mohan’s performance as Dushanta is only passable. His non-Telugu heritage makes other performers like Jishu Sen Gupta, Sachin Khedkar, and Kabir Duhan Singh’s roles seem manufactured.
In his one appearance as Bharata, Allu Arha excelled. Her presence and the conversations are excellent. In their different parts, Madhubala, Mohan Babu, Ananya Nagalla, and others performed admirably.
Technical Aspect
Since Shaakuntalam is a well-known tale, viewers anticipate the film to deliver great storytelling. Shaakuntalam utterly failed at it. Shaakuntalam was a fiasco because of shoddy VFX work that exaggerated beautiful phrases and a terribly slow narrative. None of the songs stood out. Some of the ambient music is excellent. Shaakuntalam’s nearly two-and-a-half-hour runtime is a burden.
In an effort to make every shot heavenly and fanciful, the sights look entirely fabricated and shaky. The subpar VFX work is seen in the conflict scenes and the imperial aesthetics. The features in several moments in the second half have pronounced yellow undertones and seem lifeless and pallid.
Review
The story of Shakuntala and her love story with King Dushyanta is existential in mythology and there are no tweaks or twists that a filmmaker can do to make it more interesting or otherwise. It is all about presenting it in a captivating way with great visuals and dialogue. Unfortunately, Shaakuntalam tells us the story in the most boring way possible.
The first half of Shaakuntalam is filled with the ashram backdrop, King Dushyanta’s heroism, and Shakuntala’s life. The ashram visuals are subpar with realistic graphics work. It is more like watching a stylized cartoon work all along. The action scenes in the first half and the war sequences in the second half appear comical.
The drama falls short of creating an emotional bond and gives the entire movie a fake vibe. Most of the narration itself drags and moves slowly. The tunes failed to impress and further slowed down the already sluggish tempo. The attempt to convey it poetically just served to make it more flimsy overall. To spare the viewer from the run duration and subpar visuals, at least the brief informational stories that are inspired to provide a peep inside some characters were depicted in comic pictures.
Although Samantha seemed and behaved well, her conversation still stands out as one of the greatest flaws. when the words are being said by an experienced actor like Mohan Babu and a rookie like Allu Arha.
Allu Arha is the film’s lone redeeming quality. Her debut film is outstanding and she is adorable. She was noticeable and had the potential to become one of the busiest young performers.
The only difference in the second half is that it slows down to try your patience. The absence of Telugu actors in the main characters is a major flaw since it frequently creates the impression that the viewer is witnessing a dubbing series. Both the emotional parts and the battle sequences lacked any real effect.
Overall, the narration of Shaakuntalam is very sluggish and monotonous, and the visuals are subpar.
Details
| Directed by | Gunasekhar |
|---|---|
| Screenplay by | Gunasekhar |
| Dialogue by | Sai Madhav Burra |
| Based on | Shakuntala by Kalidasa |
| Produced by | Neelima Guna |
| Starring | Samantha Dev Mohan |
| Cinematography | Sekhar V. Joseph |
| Edited by | Prawin Pudi |
| Music by | Mani Sharma |
| Production companies | Gunaa Teamworks Sri Venkateswara Creations |
| Distributed by | AA Films |
| Release date | 14 April 2023 |
| Running time | 142 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Budget | ₹65 crore |
| Box office | ₹20 crore |
Screen Short
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