Shaakuntalam: Samantha Ruth Prabhu-Starrer Puts A Burden Of THIS MUCH On Producers; Flop Talk Affects Big Time

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Samantha Ruth Prabhu's latest mythological love story titled 'Shaakuntalam' was released all over the world to an underwhelming response at the box office. The movie, which has a screenplay and direction by maverick director Gunasekhar, failed to impress fans as well as regular movie-goers big time.

Despite being a star-studded film featuring an ensemble cast and Samantha in the titular role; in which she looked dreamy, and wore enticing attires and jewelry, the period love story failed miserably in several aspects. For a film that is led by a female character, the makers- Neelima Guna, Dil Raju of Gunaa Teamworks, and Sri Venkateswara Creations, have spent huge money on its making. In addition, owing to Samantha's fandom in Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada, it was released as a pan-India venture.

Shaakuntalam was initially made on a budget of Rs 40 Crore. Dil Raju joined the venture and for bringing it out in a 3D version, they spent another Rs 10 Crore. After collaboration and delay in production etc, the budget shot up to Rs 54 Crore. Now, the makers have put Rs 64 Crores on Shaakuntalam, depending on Samantha's craze alone.

For a film that has no story that offers anything new, the budget is huge. There were no buyers at first and the non-theatrical rights of Shaakuntalam took a long time to strike the right deal. The buyers of the film were reportedly offered the movie on returnable advances method. While the movie earned Rs 40 Crore through initial business, there is a burden of Rs 24 Crore more.

According to a report in Greatandhra, "If Shaakuntalam manages to recover a gross of Rs 50 Crore from the two Telugu states, the investment of the producers will be recovered."

Shaakuntalam stars Mohan Babu, Dev Mohan, Madhoo, Gautami, Sachin Khedekar, Aditi Balan, Ananya Nagalla, Allu Arha, and Sachin Khedekar among others in crucial roles.