'Shaakuntalam' has been criticized for a number of reasons. One major demerit that is dragging the film down is its casting.
Dev Mohan's acting is really appreciable but he is a small-time actor. Roping in a non-Telugu actor with no star image for a story of this sort was a blunder. It is Dev Mohan's Dushyanta who amasses more screentime than Samantha's Shakuntala in the second half.
Casting Kabir Duhan Singh as an Asura in a serious mythological movie was silly. Nobody recognizes him although he has done dozens of Telugu movies before.
Casting Sachin Khedekar as Kanva Maharshi and Kabir Bedi as Kashyapa Maharshi was a badly-advised move.
Among smaller names, Siva Balaji, Aadarsh Balakrishna and even Satya were wrong choices.
Gunasekhar was absolutely spot-on in casting Allu Arha as Bharatha, Mohan Babu as Durvasa Muni and Prakash Raj as Sarangi.
How about Samantha, the superstar actress? Well, while casting her was not horrible in itself, she was not projected well. Her body language was not adequately molded. Letting her dub was another laughable decision.
