Gunasekhar reveals he asked Samantha Ruth Prabhu to rework her figure because her abs and biceps were unsuitable for the role of Shakuntala.
Shaakuntalam director Gunasekhar is well known for his works in Telugu cinema. The filmmaker has won a National Award for Best Children’s Film for the movie Ramayanam and has made movies in different genres ranging from romance, mythological and historical drama. While promoting his latest movie, the director revealed that he asked Samantha Ruth Prabhu to re-work her figure for the movie.
In an interview with Times of India, Gunasekhar revealed that he had no Plan B actress if Samantha Ruth Prabhu would have rejected the script and said, “Sam didn’t say no on my first narration but she asked for some time as she was unwell. I have shown some of the material how the film will look like and she liked it. I asked Samantha to rework her figure because her abs or biceps would be unsuitable for the soft and tender look of Shakuntala. So to work on her look, she asked for some time but not for its content. I had no plan B actress for ‘Shaakuntalam’, from day one it was always Samantha.”
The director also talked about Samantha’s performance in the film and said, “She did lovely, though she is a modern girl with an ultra-fashion sense. But she worked a lot on the role. This will connect to all the millennials very well. We’ve given some special training to her from Hyderabad Central University acting professor for her role and she owned it.”
Shaakuntalam is based on Kalidasa’s play Abhijnana Shakuntalam and stars Samantha Ruth Prabhu as Shankuntala and Dev Mohan as the King of Peru dynasty (King Dushyant). The epic love story also marks the acting debut of Allu Arjun’s daughter Allu Arha who essays the role of Prince Bharata. The film also stars Mohan Babu, Aditi Balan, Prakash Raj, Gautami, Madhoo, Jisshu Sengupta, and Kabir Bedi amongst others.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu will be next seen sharing the screen with Vijay Deverakonda in their next film Kushi helmed by Shiva Nirvana. The film is a love story between an army officer and a Kashmiri girl. The Telugu language film will hit the theatres on September 1, 2023. Other than this, the actress will also be seen in the Indian installment of the American series Citadel and will be seen sharing the screen with Varun Dhawan in it.
Read Shaakuntalam Twitter review: Allu Arjun's daughter Allu Arha steals the show in Samantha Ruth Prabhu film, say netizens
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