Gunasekhar tests negative for COVID-19, day after shooting for Samantha's Shaakuntalam halts abruptly

On Monday, panic struck at the sets of Samantha Akkineni-starrer

Shaakuntalam

after the film's director Gunasekhar had initially tested positive. The director immediately went into quarantine mode and shooting came to an abrupt halt. However, the result turned out to be a false positive and when the

Okkadu

director took the test again, the result came out as negative.

Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, Gunasekhar wrote, "Hi Happy Ugadi to you all Yesterday I had a false positive

COVID

test during a routine testing activity that we do on sets upon further testing and inspection it was confirmed by doctors that I DO NOT have COVID and so I’d be resuming the shoot with all precautions in place (sic)."

Actor Dev Mohan is set to play the role of prince Dushyant in the film, while Samantha will play the princess. In an earlier interview, Gunasekhar had said, "In the Aadiparva of Mahabharata, the story of Shaakuntalam and Dushyantha is the most interesting story. Shaakuntalam is going to be a screen adaptation of the playwright Abnignana Shaakunthalam which was written by Kalidas. It is one of the greatest love stories and the story is set in the backdrop of Himalayas. During the lockdown, I decided to make this part of Mahabharatam into a movie.``

The movie is being jointly produced by Neelima Guna and Dil Raju. It is expected to hit screens next year and is touted as a big budget film. After Shaakuntalam, Gunasekhar will team up with Rana Daggubati for

Hiranyakashyap

.