South diva Samantha Ruth Prabhu is playing the role of the beautiful daughter of Menaka and Vishwamitra, straight from the pages of Kalidasa in upcoming much hyped movie Shaakuntalam which is helmed by Gunasekhar who is best known for his epic period drama Rudhramadevi with Anushka Shetty.
Samantha demanded Rs 7 Crore for portraying the role of Shakuntala in this upcoming entertainer. Few sources claimed that Rangasthalam lady took home Rs 3 Crore for allotting about 150 days for the film whereas few claimed that she offered to take remuneration of Rs 2.5 Crore. Dev Mohan who is playing the role of King Dushyanta received Rs 1.75 Crore. Veteran actor-producer Mohan Babu Manchu was paid Rs 1 Crore for essaying the role of Durvasa Maharshi.
Aditi Balan is essaying the role of Anasuya in the film and she was paid about Rs 40 Lakh. Ananya Nagalla took home Rs 25 Lakh for portraying the role of Priyamvada. Prakash Raj was paid Rs 1.5 Cr and Gautami Tadimalla was paid Rs 55 Lakh. Madhoo aka Madhubala was paid Rs 25 Lakh remuneration whereas Sachin khedekar received the remuneration of Rs 20 Lakh for his character in Gunasekhar’ magnum opus Shaakuntalam.
The film Shaakuntalam, produced on a massive budget by Gunasekhar himself, will be released in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada.