‘Shaakuntalam’ Producer Dil Raju Calls Samantha Ruth Prabhu Starrer’ A Big Jerk’ While Talking About Film’s Box Office Failure: “My Judgment Went Wrong”
Producer Dil Raju gets candid about making & distributing as well as the box office failure of Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s Shaakuntalam. Read on
In April 2023, Samantha Ruth Prabhu transported us back in time as she played the titular role in Gunasekhar’s mythological romantic drama Shaakuntalam. Distributed by Dil Raju’s Sri Venkateswara Creations, the film was panned by critics and became a massive commercial failure.
In a recent interaction, the film producer and distributor opened up about the Samantha-led film failing at the box office while also discussing his career in the industry. Read on!
During a recent interview with Rajesh Manna on his YouTube Channel, Dil Raju opened up about his long stint as a producer and distributor. Mentioning the Samantha Ruth Prabhu starrer, he said, “In over 50 films I’ve produced so far, there were only four or five films, which turned financially bad. Recently, Shaakuntalam came as a big jerk in my 25-year career in the film industry.”
Further talking about Samantha Ruth Prabhu-led Shaakuntalam, Dil Raju added, “I accept if something doesn’t work out. I believed in the film and thought if the audiences love it, they would celebrate it. When it didn’t, my judgement went wrong and the film misfired.”
Talking about the Gunasekhar directorial, the mythological romantic drama film is based on a popular play Abhignyana Shakuntalam by Kalidasa. Filmed in Telugu, the movie – starring Samantha in the titular role and Dev Mohan as Dushyanta – the king of the Puru dynasty, was also dubbed and released in Tamil and Hindi. The film grossed under ₹10 crore in its opening weekend – the lowest opening for a Telugu film made over a budget of ₹50 crore.
Released theatrically on April 14, 2023, the film failed to leave an impression, and Koimoi gave it 1.5 stars in its review. The last word of the review read, “Not just the audience but even Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Dev Mohan deserved much better than a movie that doesn’t even try to catch with the artistry its contemporaries have already achieved.”
