The makers of Samatha Ruth Prabhu’s period drama Shaakuntalam have announced the film’s new release date. The Telugu film, based on Kalidasa’s epic Shakuntala, will be releasing in theatres on February 17, 2023. The film was earlier slated to be released in November but was delayed but was postponed due to post-production 3D work.
Samantha shared a new poster of the film featuring herself and Dev Mohan, who plays King Dushyant in the film, on Monday morning. The poster shows the lead pair, in a warm embrace with their eyes closed and the contrasting visuals of Dushyant’s palace and Shakuntala’s humble hut, in the background. In the caption, Samantha revealed the film’s new release date. “Witness the #EpicLoveStory #Shaakuntalam in theatres from Feb 17th 2023 Worldwide! Also in 3D,” she wrote.
The conversion of the film into the 3D format is what reportedly led to the delay in release. The pan-India film was initially supposed to be released in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada on November 4, 2022. A poster with the release date had been shared last year. However, the release was postponed after the makers decided to convert the film into 3D. The time taken in the conversion process led to the three-month delay.
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Shaakuntalam, directed by Gunasekhar, also stars Mohan Babu, Aditi Balan, Prakash Raj, Gautami, Madhoo, Jisshu Sengupta, and Kabir Bedi among others. The film also marks the film debut of Allu Arjun’s daughter Allu Arha, who plays a young Prince Bharata in a cameo. The film is an adaptation of Kalidasa’s famous play, which tells the story of the romance between King Dushyant of the Puru dynasty and Shakuntala, his wife. The original story comes from the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata but Kalidasa’s Sanskrit play is the most popular adaptation of the story.
