The first look of actor Samantha Prabhu’s much-awaited film Shakuntalam was released on Monday, Feb 21. Weaving together the beautiful story of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala, with her simple yet creative designs, National award-winning costume designer Neeta Lulla has designed the costumes for the entire cast of the film.
Looking surreal in and as Shakuntala on the poster, Samantha is seen draped in a simple white ensemble accentuated with flowers. Speaking about designing for Samantha, Neeta shares, “Samantha was perfect for the title role of Shakuntalam. It was a pleasure working with her. She is such a patient actor. Samantha is an actor who pays attention to detail when it comes to the portrayal of a character she is playing. There’s a certain sense of softness to her which has come out beautifully in the film.”
Sharing the look on her Instagram account , the actress wrote: Presenting…Nature’s beloved.. the Ethereal and Demure.. “Shakuntala” from #Shaakuntalam (sic). In a candid video shared by the designer’s team, Samantha thanks Neeta from the bottom of her heart for making her look ethereal. Dressed in a casual T-shirt teamed with a pair of denim shorts in the video, Samantha in a candid conversation with the designer says: “Before I start any film, I am very nervous about how I am going to pull it off. To play Shakuntalam, I knew she had to be extremely gorgeous and honestly, I did not have the confidence to look that way but thank you for seeing me in this role and making me look so ethereal.”
Samantha further adds, “Every time I would look at the monitor, I am not even looking at the scene and I am thinking wow, how did you make me look like this. This is the best I have ever looked… I myself and not even my mom thinks I could look this beautiful (laughs).”
This beautiful story revolves around the love between King Dushyanta and Shakuntala, and the film is helmed by director Gunasekhar and produced by his daughter Neelima Guna. Having worked with Gunasekhar on his previous films, Neeta says, “I am looking forward to the release of the film. I think this is going to be one the most beautiful projects I have worked on. Director Gunasekhar has done a brilliant job in terms of character portrayal and attention to detail was given to every character in this film.”
