Recently, the trailer of Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s Shaakuntalam has been released and impressed the audience. Social media users are not just praising the VFX but also amplifying the depth of Shakuntala’s character that the actor has played.
Samantha’s fans are appreciating the fact that a female actor has been given the lead with so many layers, and she has done justice to the mythological woman, Shakuntala.
The trailer looks captivating so far, and it was about time that a film around Shakuntala was made, glorifying her role in the ancient Hindu epic, Mahabharata. The film is based on Kalidasa’s play, Abhijñānaśākuntala (The Sign of Shakuntala).
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According to legends, Shakuntala was born out of the love of Brahmarshi Vishwamitra and the apsara Menaka. The apsara was sent by Lord Indra to end the penance of the rishi. The two fell in love and lived together for a few years.
However, when he came to know about Indra’s intention, he left Menaka. She, in turn, left her baby near the hermitage of rishi Kanva to whom hymns of Rig Veda ascribe.
The rishi found the baby surrounded by birds and named her Shakuntala, which means protected by Shakunta birds.
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King Dushyanta of the Chandravamsha (Lunar) dynasty first saw Shakuntala in a forest while hunting for a deer. He fell in love with her, and later, the two got married in the jungle according to the Gandharva marriage system (consensual acceptance of each other as spouses in the absence of friends and family).
However, it was not a marriage that sustained for long. It was only after this union that the struggles of Shakuntala began.
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Legends have it that Shakuntala was cursed by the powerful Rishi Durvasa. One day, he visited her ashrama while she was daydreaming about her husband, Dhushyanta. Lost in her own world, she failed to greet the rishi properly.
The enraged saint cursed her. He said that the person who was responsible for her ignorant behaviour would forget about her. However, when Shakuntala’s friend pacified the rishi and told him that she was only thinking about her husband, he modified the curse.
The rishi said that though the person (Dushyanta) would forget everything about her, he would also instantly remember her once she handed him a personal token that he had given to Shakuntala.
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In those days, Hastinapur was ruled by King Dushyanta. The city has great importance in Mahabharata. When the king did not return, Shakuntala set on a journey to bring him back. While she was crossing a river, her ring that was given to him by her husband fell into the water.
She tried to remind Dushyanta about their love (January 2023 Love Predictions) and marriage. In the trailer, it is shown that Shakuntala was pregnant when she arrived in Hastinapur. Since she could not present a token, her husband remained oblivious to her existence.
She went back to her hermitage and stayed with her son Bharat, who grew up to be one of the greatest fighters mentioned in mythological tales.
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Years later, a fisherman found the lost ring. Seeing the royal seal, he took it to the king whose memory of his wife came back. He searched for her in forests and came across a young boy with exemplary fighting skills.
When Dushyanta asked his name, he said, “Bharat, the son of King Dhyshayanta.” It was Bharat who united his parents.
There is another version of the story in which the family reunited in heaven.
We are already familiar with Samantha’s work, but we cannot wait to see her full-fledged act as Shakuntala in Shaakuntalam. She looked ethereal in the clip. Directed by Gunasekhar, the film has Dev Mohan playing the role of King Dushyanta.
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