The initial plan was to up the entire film of Shakuntalam within a budget of Rs. 50 Crores, but the film has now reportedly gone overboard in its budget, with the film going over Rs. 65 Crores already. Given that the film is high on graphics, most of the budget is said to have gone for the visual effects of the film.
Given that there’s no clarity over whether or not Samantha, who plays the titular character, has a market where she can bring in the budget, it is a huge risk for the makers to have gone so overboard. With Samantha’s Yashoda set to be released on November 11th, the makers are said to be hoping that the film would be able to do good business at the box office, which would increase the revenue of Shakuntalam.
On the other hand, Shakuntalam features Malayalam actor Dev Mohan as King Dushyanth, while Allu Arha will be making her debut as Prince Bharata in the film.