Madhoo Feels Sad About Shaakuntalam Tanking At Box Office; Says ‘It Just Hurts You’

Samantha’s ‘Shaakuntalam’ co-star Madhoo reacted to the film’s poor performance at the box office.

Samantha-Dev Mohan’s mythological drama, Shaakuntalam released in theatres earlier this month. Unfortunately, the Gunasekhar directorial failed to impress the audience and the film flopped miserably at the box office.

Madhoo who essayed the role of Menaka in this Samantha starrer recently reacted to the film tanking at the ticket windows. The ‘Roja’ actress said that she is hurt because the movie underperformed at the box office despite the makers and producers working hard on it.

In an interview with DNA, Madhoo said, “I feel very sad that Shaakuntalam has underperformed because the makers and producers gave it all. From the pre-production to release, unhone kahi bhi us picture ko dheela nahi chhoda (the left no stone unturned). After shooting and dubbing, they spent an entire year on CGI (computer-generated imagery). They never took the process for granted and made sure to make it a visual treat. While shooting, I saw they never gave any stress to artists or technicians. They took care of our comfort as well.”

Further, Madhoo said that while other south Indian films like RRR and Baahubali clicked with the audience, she didn’t understand why Shaakuntalam failed inspite of its “strong South Indian flavour.”

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“Shaakuntalam has a strong South Indian flavour, with mythology. Ab Baahubali chali… RRR chal gayi… jab koi picture chal jaati hai, toh you don’t know…logic nahi hota (Baahubali and RRR worked at the box- office, one never knows the logic behind why some films work and others don’t). Nobody expected that Baahubali would be such a gigantic hit. Even if the film is good, no one had expected it to be a big hit. We never anticipated that the film would underperform at the box office. So, it just hurts you because this is the film where everyone worked really hard.”

Samantha’s Shaakuntalam is based on Kalidasa’s popular play, ‘Abhijnana Shakuntalam’. The magnum opus marked the acting debut of Telugu superstar Allu Arjun’s daughter Allu Arha.