Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 19 (ANI): Actor Samantha Akkineni expressed her gratitude for bagging the Best Actress in a Leading Role (Telugu) award for 'Oh! Baby' at The South Indian International Movie Awards.

New Delhi Aug 25 PTI South actor Samantha Akkineni who became a pan-India sensation following the success of The Family Man season two says she has never picked up roles based on her perceived image as a starTaking up Amazon Prime Videos The Family Man a predominantly Hindi web series directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK was just another attempt at doing something she hasnt done before she saidI dont think any of my decisions have been made based on my star image I never made such calls I dont even know what exactly my star image is Im just an actor who wants to excelIm a very greedy actor who wants to be offered everything to constantly try evolving trying to better my craft Generally I pick roles I dont think I can pull off Theres great fun in that Akkineni told PTI in an interviewThe second season of the critically acclaimed show saw Akkineni in the role of Raji a Sri Lankan Tamil liberation fighter who faces off against the intelligence agent Srikant Tiwari played by series lead Manoj BajpayeeAkkineni whose credits include Telugu and Tamil films like Eega Mahanati Mersal and Super Deluxe also addressed the controversy around The Family ManAhead of the release of the new chapter in June there were calls for a boycott of the series in Tamil Nadu including IT Minister T Mano Thangaraj over its alleged depiction of Eelam TamilsWhile the show mostly received favourable reviews especially for Akkinenis performance many also slammed the makers for brown facing the rather fair-skinned actorAll in all the Chennai-born star said she looks back on the experience only with loveI did not play Raji as a villain She was just on the wrong side of history She was loyal to her cause and that was it I did not even for one moment think of her as a villainI just gave my 100 per cent When the backlash and the trolling happened a lot of people were asking me to comment But I just wanted to wait for the show to come out and for people to see what weve done Akkineni said though her portrayal came from a place of honesty she apologised to those who took offenceIf some of them still have any resentment I sincerely apologise for anything that I did that offended them I wasnt trying to offend anyone she saidLast week Akkineni won the best actress award series for The Family Man 2 at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2021 Bajpayee was named best actor series at the movie galaThis is my first award for my performance This just feels very special she saidAfter The Family Man the quality of Hindi content being offered to her has improved very much the actor saidIm very happy with the kind of content that is now being offered Actors can dream of being offered such varied content and Im extremely grateful for everything The Family Man has given me and opened new doors for me Thankful to the team and to everyone who thought of me to play this role Akkineni is on a break for a month or two after which she plans to take on new scripts and challengesIm so happy that after 11 years I can finally say that I have nothing in the pipeline Im content where I am and now Im just looking for what can surprise me next she saidThe actor will next be seen in Shaakuntalam Telugu and Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kaadhal Tamil PTI RDS BK BK

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 20 (ANI): Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK's 'The Family Man' made it big at the latest edition of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) as the stars Manoj Bajpayee and Samantha Akkineni bagged the Best Actors award for their commendable performances in the second season of the popular web show.