Plot

The love story of King Dushyantha and Shakuntala, daughter of sage Vishwamitra and nymph Menaka. Due to a sage's curse, Dushyant forgets all about Shakuntala, until destiny brings them together again.

Shakuntala, daughter of Meneka and Rishi Vishwamitra lives in forest with her teacher, Rishi Kanva. She meets King Dushyant, falls in love, gets married and have a baby. But due to a sage's curse, Dushyant forgets all about Shakuntala, until destiny brings them together again.

The movie starts as Menaka (Madhoo) leaves the baby near Rishi Kanva's (Sachin Khedekar) hermitage before returning to heaven. Lord Indra had sent Menaka from heaven to disrupt Vishvamitra's holy penance. The Holy penance was disrupted, but Vishvamitra and Menaka fell in love with each other and had a child. Humans are not allowed in heaven, so Menaka left the child behind before returning to heavens. Kanva adopts the baby and names her Shakuntala.

King Dushyanta is a brave and noble King. He protects human villages when attacked by the animals, but also believes that animals have the right to live peacefully in the forest. During the summer, King Dushyanta (Dev Mohan) pursued an antelope in the forest. He sees that the antelope and the tiger co-exist peacefully in this part of the forest. Dushyanta was confronted by an ascetic. The ascetic told him that that the creature belonged to the Ashrama of Kanva, and he was not to violate the sanctity of the land by slaying it. Dushyanta agreed to not kill the antelope and was encouraged to visit the Ashrama.

He was told that he would be welcomed by Shakuntala (Samantha Ruth Prabhu), Kanva's adopted daughter, due to the sage's absence. Upon entering the Ashrama, he came across three exquisite girls watering the plants, and became infatuated with Shakuntala, who was one among the trio. After a conversation with the bevy, he learned that the true parents of Shakuntala were Vishvamitra and Menaka, which made Shakuntala a suitable bride for him due to her Kshatriya parentage. Dushyanta, however, chose not to reveal his identity. The company broke up due to hearing that an elephant was running amok in the Ashrama, and Shakuntala grew enamored of the visitor. Dushyanta brings the wild elephant under control. News arrives that a Kalanemi demon wants to attack the Ashrama and disrupt the holy prayers and Yagna. Kalanemi is the son of the demon who took the form of a deer and helped Ravana abduct Sita. Now Kalanemi's successors want to attack the Ashrama.

Kalanemi demons are famous for killing time. A similar demon was sent by Ravana to delay Hanuman when he was tasked to bring the Sanjeevani herb back to treat Ram's brother. The Kalanemi demon took the form of a sage and asked Hanuman to take a dip in the river. He then sent a crocodile after Hanuman, whom Hanuman slayed with his tail. The crocodile was a divine Apsara who had been cursed. She blesses Hanuman, reveals Kalanemi's true form and leave. Hanuman kills the Kalanemi demon and brings the entire mountain back to Lanka.

The king directed his general to stop the chaos and instruct his men to stay away from the Ashrama. He confessed his feelings to his companion and jester Vidushaka, urging him to think of a pretext to stay in the Ashrama without arousing suspicion. Fortunately, a few ascetics approached him soon to request him to safeguard their Yagna, which he readily accepted. As the demon army approaches the Ashrama, Dushyanta wades into battle. The demons are a powerful army, but Dushyanta is able to hold them back till sunset, but which time the Yagna is completed. The sages invite the King to stay at the Ashrama for a few days.

He sent Vidushaka to his capital, and fearing that his friend would be a tattletale, he lied, stating that his feelings for Shakuntala were but a joke. Shakuntala soon confessed her feelings for Dushyanta, and the two were married according to Gandharva rites. The marriage is performed in secrecy with the forest and its animals as their only witness. Dushyanta spends his wedding night with Shakuntala. The king left for the capital, and promised his wife that he would send a suitable guard to escort her to his palace. Dushyanta leaves a ring with Shakuntala as a symbol of their love and marriage. Kanav returned to his Ashrama and offered his consent for the marriage.

In her solitude, Shakuntala was absorbed in thoughts of her husband, due to which she failed to offer the appropriate hospitality to the short-tempered sage, Durvasa (Mohan Babu). Once Shiva and Brahma had an argument and Shiva lost his temper. The heat of his anger was such that the entire Universe was threatened. All the Lords ran away but they had nowhere to hide. Shiva saw this, and wanted to contain his anger, but there was no place in the Universe that could handle it. So, he bundled his anger and sent it into the womb of a mother and gave it life. Thus, was born Durvasa who grew up to become a sage. Durvasa cursed Shakuntala, stating that the man she was thinking of to such an extent that he had been neglected would never remember her.

One of Shakuntala's friends, Anasuya (Ananya Nagalla), offered an explanation of her friend's absent-mindedness, and sought forgiveness from the sage. Duravasa agreed to offer a concession of the curse, stating that the man would remember her upon the presentation of a token of recognition. Shakuntala's companions did not reveal this curse to her, as Durvasa had threatened that if they did, the curse would become permanent. Shakuntala did, after all, have such a token of recognition, so her husband would no doubt recall her. The curse took effect, and Dushyanta lost all memory of Shakuntala. When Shakuntala started to show signs of pregnancy, Kanva decided to send her to her lawful husband, explaining to her the duties of a wife and a daughter-in-law.

On the way, they had to cross a river by a canoe ferry and seduced by the deep blue waters of the river, Shakuntala ran her fingers through the water. Her ring (Dushyanta's ring) slipped off her finger without her realizing it.

Upon reaching the king's palace, Dushyanta failed to recognize Shakuntala, and merely expressed his incredulity when the accompanying sages urged him to accept her as his queen. Shakuntala searched for the ring that the king had presented her during their parting but realized that it had been lost during the journey. The sages leave Shakuntala as they were not present during her wedding and their duty was to deliver her to Dushyanta. Shakuntala is accused by the court of being a cheat and a liar. The ministers advise Dushyanta to wait till the child is born. If the child resembles Dushyanta, then Shakuntala and her child can be accepted. Shakuntala is insulted at this suggestion. She believes that Dushyanta is going back on his word. Dushyanta refuses to punish Shakuntala as she is pregnant but banishes her from his Kingdom.

While leaving the hall, the anguished Shakuntala is stoned by the villagers. After a while, the ring that Shakuntala had dropped in a pool of water was discovered by a fisherman inside a fish, which was produced before Dushyanta following accusations of theft. Shakuntala gave birth to her baby in a cave and escaped into the forest. She reached the doors of Rishi Kashyapa Ashrama and sought refuge.

Durvasa's curse was broken upon the king seeing the ring, and his memory of his wife was restored. He immediately set out to find her and, arriving at her father's Ashrama, discovered that she was no longer there. 4 years pass by with no sign of Shakuntala. Dushyanta is distraught. Indra explains to Menaka that this is a plot by the Kalanemi demons, who know that Dushyanta would fight aside Indra when the demons attack the heavens. So, by keeping Shakuntala away from him, Kalanemi are ensuring their victory against the Lords. The Kalanemi demons also know that the child of Dushyanta and Shakuntala will rule over a new world order for the humans. The demons had missed a golden opportunity by not killing Shakuntala, when she was escaping Dushyanta's palace.

Indra sends a message to Dushyanta that Kalanemi demons are responsible for keeping Shakuntala away from him. Indra invites Dushyanta for war against the demons. After a brutal fight, Dushyanta is able to defeat the Kalanemi King, who reveals that Shakuntala is hidden in the Kashyapa mountains, which the demons were not able to penetrate due to its magical powers.

Dushyanta continued deeper into the forest to find his wife and came upon a surprising scene in the forest: a young boy had pried open the mouth of a lion and was busy counting its teeth. The king greeted the boy, amazed by his boldness and strength, and asked his name. He was surprised when the boy answered that he was Bharata, the son of King Dushyanta. The boy took him to Shakuntala, and thus the family was reunited. Shakuntala refuses to accept Dushyanta despite his sorrow and apologies. Rishi Kashyap finally tells Shakuntala about Rishi Durvasa's curse due to which Dushyanta had no memories of her. Shakuntala forgives Dushyanta.