‘Shaakuntalam’ Makes Less Than $2 Million In Three Days

Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s Shaakuntalam opened to mixed reviews and has had an underwhelming run at the box office in the first three days of the release on Friday, April 14. The film has reportedly made a worldwide gross collection that fell below $2 million worldwide in its first weekend. In India, the film grossed below $1 million.

Shaakuntalam is reported to have made a gross opening collection of $0.43 million in India. Of those, a little more than $3,00,000 came from the original (Telugu) version alone. Directed by Gunasekhar, the film also released in various dubbed languages including Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam.

On day two, the collections dipped to $244, 000 and it further slid down to $0.2 million on the third day – Sunday. Shaakuntalam is expected to make rough collections of $70,000 on its first Monday. The film is reportedly made on an estimated budget of $6 million.

Shaakuntalam is based on the ancient Indian play titled Abhigyan Shakuntalam that was written by Kalidasa (best known for Sanskrit works such as Meghadoota). It is the story of Shakuntala – the child of fairy Menaka and saint Vishwamitra, as per the legend. She was abandoned by her parents at her birth, and grew up to become the partner of King Dushyant.

Gunasekhar’s is not the first time that Abhigyan Shakuntalam was adapted to the silver screen. Suchet Singh first made Shakuntala in 1920 and it featured US-based actor Dorothy in the lead role. Sarvottam Badami made it as Shakuntala in 1932 with Kamalabai in the lead role. It was made twice in the 40s as MS Subulaxmi’s Sakuntalai (1940) and V Shanataram’s Shakuntala that featured Jayashree in the lead role.

The 1954 Bengali film Bidhilipi also featured Sandhyarani as Shakuntala. In the 60s, Saroja Devi-NT Rama Rao-starrer Sakuntala was also based on Abhigyan Shakuntalam. KR Vijaya’s Malayalam film Shakuntala was made in 1965. Jayaprada also played the role of Shakuntala in the 1984 Kannada film Kaviratna Kalidas.

Prabhu essays the titular role of Shakuntala and Dev Mohan plays the king in the story. Mohan Babu plays sage Durvasa in the film – his curse was a chief cause for several troubles that Shakuntala faced. Prakash Raj also makes a brief appearance in the film as a boatman and Madhoo plays Menaka, Shakuntala’s fairy-mother. Sachin Khedekar plays Shakuntala’s foster father while Aditi Balan plays her foster mother.

Shaakuntalam gets to showcase some brilliant and breath-taking visuals, thanks to the backdrop of natural scenic beauty of mountains, rivers, oceans and jungles. The film manages to maintain the ethos of the original story, but fails to bring any extra perspective to it. Introduced to the film as ‘Gunasekhar’s Shaakuntalam’ (in the opening credits), one is bound to expect a take, perspective or opinion on the ancient tale. The filmmaker does not live up to any such expectation.

Trade pundits believe the dismal performance of Shaakuntalam will put it to sleep way before the next release – Salman Khan’s Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi KI Jaan hits theatres. Khan’s film is slated for a theatrical release on Eid 2023, April 21. The film is directed by Farhad Samji (who previously made films such as Houseful 4 and Bachchan Paandey). It also features Pooja Hegde, Venkatesh Daggubati, Shehnaaz Gill and Ram Charan, among others.