‘Shaakuntalam’ Review: Samantha-starrer Is Larger Than Life but Little Else

A long, long time ago, Shakuntala (Samantha Ruth) and Dushyant (Dev Mohan) meet in a forest and within its mesmerising, tranquil harmony they fall in love. So begins Gunasekhar’s rendition of Kalidasa’s Shakuntala. 

Several CGI animals inhabit this landscape where a majority of the first half is set and it’s perhaps easy to look past the shoddy technicalities because they’re adorable. Yet, when lions and tigers sit atop elephants, it’s tough to suspend disbelief. Even the animated The Lion King in all its ‘Circle of Life’ glory didn’t attempt this. 

The visual effects courtesy Alagarsamy Mayan and the production design by Ashok Kumar create a decent feeling of fantasy but beyond that, there’s not much to write home about. 

I bring in animation because the film’s sketch animation is frankly stunning and almost makes you wonder if this would’ve been a better film had the makers stuck to that medium. 

For a majority of a film titled ‘Shaakuntalam’, Shakuntala does nothing. The mighty and muscular Dushyant wages battle, saves villagers, changes his viewpoint about wild animals, all while Shakuntala sighs and stares. 

Shakuntala, according to lore, is the daughter of an apsara Menaka and the sage Vishwamitra. Since humans can’t enter swarg, she is left behind on Earth and is raised in an ashram. Even after she falls for and marries Dushyant, Durvasa Maharishi’s curse derails everything. 

Samantha as Shakuntala is a vision to behold. She is graceful and magnificent and that only makes it more painful that she is given so little to do.

When it comes to the acting chops, both Samantha and Dev try but there’s a disconnect and the audience is left wanting more. The dialogues are naturally Sanskritised considering the setting and the source material but phrases like ‘tan ka taap’ to describe attraction are jarring to say the least. 

The screenplay comes across more as a means to go from one plot point to another than a tool to create an immersive experience as a film. The storyline would be of no surprise to someone who knows the story but even if you put that aside for a second, it always seems like something is missing. 

Last but not the least, the best part about Shaakuntalam (notwithstanding Neeta Lulla’s stunning costume work) is Allu Arjun’s daughter Allu Arha’s debut. She shows up in the film’s final leg and is so extremely endearing that you finally feel yourself giving into the film but it’s too little too late.