Samantha Akkineni to headline Shaakuntalam

Actor Samantha Akkineni has been roped in to play the titular role in director Gunasekhar's upcoming mythological drama, Shaakuntalam.

Welcoming Samantha on board, Gunaa Team Works, the production house of the film, released a motion poster on the official Twitter handle and wrote, "Shaakuntalam... Kavyanayaki... Here's the BIG REVEAL Motion poster (sic)."

Set in the Himalayas, Shaakuntalam is based on Kalidasa's epic Sanskrit play Abhijnana Shakuntalam. The film tells the love story of king Dushyantha and Shakuntala, daughter of sage Vishwamitra and apsara Menaka. The plot is reportedly based upon a love affair, a secret marriage, separation of imprecation and reunion of the immortal love of Dushyanta and Shakuntala.

Grapevine is that Gunasekhar initially approached Pooja Hegde for the part, but things didn't materialise as the Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo actor refused to play a mother on screen at this point of her career. Eventually, the Rudhramadevi director initiated a dialogue with Samantha and signed the deal. A Mani Sharma musical, Shaakuntalam is expected to go on floors later this year.