- Date of Release: 14 April 2023
- Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
- Language: Telugu
- Watch On: Theatres Only
Shaakuntalam
Introduction
Onto the next release of the weekend and I finished watching the new Telugu film Shaakuntalam which is the new PAN-India release this week. These days if you notice, every second film is going the PAN India route which basically means them getting dubbed in all languages other than the original in which it is made. The thing to be kept in mind is that all films cannot and do not cater to the sensibilities of different regions of the country. So while releasing a PAN India film is not bad, the producers need to be self aware of whether their product is rooted with the content being churned out elsewhere.
I am a sucker for mythology and I am always curious on exploring the subject/genre in general. As they say, India is a land of many stories that are deeply rooted to the culture. And with mythology as a genre being reasonably untapped, I am thrilled that films are being made in this genre. So every time there is a new historical film or a mythological film I am interested. As far as Shakuntalam is concerned, I was also interested even more because it had Samantha in it who looked so beautiful on the poster of the film. So with high hopes I did venture into Shaakuntalam, does it live up to the hype, lets find out.
Story & Screenplay
Shaakuntalam is the true story of Shakuntala, the daughter of Menka and Vishwamitra, who falls in love with King Dushyant until.a twist of fate separates them. The story which is being addressed ought to have been interesting. But it is perhaps the most uneventful and dull story that I have been witness to in recent times. In fact, I was amazed at how this story even on paper was green lit to be made into a feature film. What is more appalling is the screenplay here. Standing at about a 140 minutes, it isn’t bad, it is very very bad. Not sure what the thought behind the film was, simply because I did not see any vision whatsoever here!
It was in October last year that we had witnessed the teaser of Adipurush which was met with a fair bit of criticism. The criticism was mostly around how technically inferior the VFX was and how cartoonish the entire proceedings did look. The same can be applied here too! The drama opens(after a brief context on Shakuntala) with an ‘animated’ shot of animals running in from all places. My first reaction was that probably this is an animated setup leading up to the actual visual setup. But to my dismay and absolute disdain, you are introduced to the protagonist who is seen hunting and rescuing people. It was at that moment that I knew the film was in massive trouble and only a miracle could actually save it. Soon you are introduced to the character of Samantha in the most laughable and tacky CGI yet! I remember facepalming myself and my forehead still hurts!
The proceedings are uneventful and I wonder why there wasn’t any effort to create moments in the screenplay which is as flat as a pancake! It is just so bad and so dull that even if you have a regular bout of sleep and wake up, the story wouldn’t have gone too much ahead. It is ridiculous on how the only attention being paid was on the costumes because even the sets were just cardboard-ish and shot in front of a giant green screen. I really wanted the writing to get on with it but it just kept delaying the inevitable without having any purpose. Even the twist in the tale, which was supposedly a mega-event in the context of the film was just so haphazard in its execution that I felt like slapping myself for venturing into this drama.
The second hour ought to have been better too but it is equally uneventful. There were yawns galore right throughout the second half which almost had me infuriated at the proceedings. I mean wouldn’t the writers and makers know on what the product is being shaped up to be? Why would the producers pour in money for this absolute dogsh*t? And more importantly, why tarnish the rich mythology in a story which I promise wasn’t bad at all and had all the ingredients for a magnum opus! Overall, the screenplay is just so bad that it is already an early contender for being the worst of the year!
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues have a mood straight out of the Mahabharata serial from the 1980s. But the differentiator being that there are no emotions or moments to have you even remotely invested and so the lines fall flat and how! Even the contexts provided at various junctures are just so haphazard that nothing makes any sort of impact. The music is good but when placed with the story, it furthers slows down the narration which just piles on the agony. The BGM is an absolute miss. The cinematography is quite poor and none of the shots stand out. The editing is choppy and all over the place. The VFX is the worst sh*t you may have seen since the teaser of Adipurush. Director Gunasekhar just doesn’t seem to have a vision to tackle a magnum opus. Even if this same tacky tale was given to Sanjay Leela Bhansali or SS Rajamouli, the film would have been visually beautiful. But here neither is the drama visually striking nor is the writing any good. This is a massive misfire!
Performances
The performances are just so poor with no characters having any bit of an arc which might be convincing. Aditi Balan as Priyamvada and Ananya Nagalla as Anasuya are just passable. Talented performers like Sachin Khedekar, Kabir Bedi and Prakash Raj are all wasted. Kabir Singh Duhan has absolute nothing to do as the leading antagonist. Dev Mohan as Dushyant has this one static expression on his face that just doesn’t exude any confidence. Samantha as Shakuntala looks beautiful but all she does is stare blankly and weep in other instances. She is much better than that and we all know that!
Conclusion
Shaakuntalam is an early contender for the worst film of the year and my debut for the year as far as consuming a paracetamol is concerned after watching a film. Available in a theatre near you.