Samantha Ruth Prabhu (formerly Akkineni), fondly called Sam, is one of the most reliable actresses in the industry. She has proved her mettle as an actress through her films, starting from Ye Maaya Chesave to Shaakuntalam. The actress has soared successfully through the ups & downs in her career. Through sheer hard work, she’s found a strong footing in the industry and has garnered a lot of love & respect from all.
Samantha Akkineni was pursuing her degree in commerce as she saw herself making a career as an accountant. She hoped to go to Australia for further studies. But she got into modelling during her college days, and by her final year, she started getting modelling assignments. At one such event, Ravi Varman spotted and introduced her to the industry.
Ye Maaya Chasave, her first film, was one of her defining moments in the industry. The movie brought her fame and provided her with the initial, strong footing in the industry. The movie is called one of her best works which she finds very amusing. The reason was, she was freaked out, at least, till her first shot. She didn’t know Telugu, so she used to rush through dialogues without actually knowing what she was doing. It was even tougher because Gautham didn’t like the word “cut”, so they had to shoot entire scenes in one go. But then, it became a learning experience for her.
Another defining moment was the movie Eega which put her “cute-girl” image past her, and people saw her acting skills. Samantha had many offers coming at the time but for commercial films. This was an experimental movie with a meaty role for her. Though her initial response was no, then later, she agreed. The movie worked well and brought acclaim to everyone. People were able to see past her beautiful face and give credit to her for her acting. That earned her the reliability factor & filmmakers got different roles for her.
For the past two to three years, the work of the actress has been super impressive. She has been delivering diverse roles & colourful stories like Oh! Baby, Jaanu, U Turn and Rangasthalam. She has worked to break her girl-next-door image and prove her versatility. For any given opportunity, she gives her all to give a noteworthy performance. For The Family Man 2, she locked herself in a room for three days and watched documentaries to get into her character's head. She did all her action scenes herself. The “girl-next-door” is a badass murdering a man who groped her in the series. And she shows her Whiplash diversity in her next project Shaakuntalam.
Samantha Akkineni is her biggest, extremely ruthless & harsh critic. This is when she doesn’t even watch her work. She gets uncomfortable when she sees her work, which is usually limited to checking the editing work. In her career spanning over a decade, she has been evolving as an actress, learning from everybody. From her co-stars like Mahesh Babu, she learnt to treat each film as her first. When she rushed through the dialogues, Gautham told her that it’s never about the dialogues but the time between two dialogues. He also taught her how to do nothing on the camera & let the audience see her soul.
Samantha Akkineni is a human being & she has her insecurities which she has been fighting off now. She used to compare her work with others, and that became the reason for her unhappiness. When she started comparing her work with her previous work, that’s when she started seeing improvement, and she made a step towards self-love & her happiness. She was also able to appreciate the work of other people better.
However, sometimes she can trust her coworkers more. Post Rangasthalam, Sam was appreciated for her performance, and many people said that she knows how to choose a script. In reality, the actress went with her instincts and hadn’t even read the script. She just knew the vibes of the film & her role when she signed the film. But the actress was conscious about not making her work look like she’s aping other actors like Trisha.
Samantha was supposed to be in the Hindi remake of Jaanu, but due to some reasons, she wasn’t. Whatever may be the reason, the actress has admitted she was scared of entering Bollywood because she found the talent & competition there, mad. When she got the role of Raji, she let go of her apprehensions & inhibitions and took the risk.
Samantha is a fashionista loved for her candid and sassy personality. She makes each look, casual or party or any other look the sexiest ever. But then, she gets a fair share of trolling too. When she posted a picture in somewhat revealing clothes post her marriage and she was trolled real bad. For her divorce, her trollers said that she's involved in infidelity and had an abortion. But, the actress has braved them all and never shied away from speaking or doing what she wants. However, her braving involves blocking at least 50 people a day.
The actress was bedridden due to an illness post which she launched this organization with her three doctor friends to give back to society. The actress donates her earnings from endorsements, launches, etc., to the trust for the benefit of the women & children. The actress has been supporting the finances for their health, education and even a trip to the Taj Mahal. She actively works to create awareness on diseases such as haemophilia and AIDS and provides support in crises like floods.
Samantha is an actress full of potential and talent to give more to the industry. Her zeal is not limited to uplifting herself but other women and workers in the industry. She is an ardent feminist who believes and works for equal opportunities and women empowerment, which shows that she’s an exemplary human besides being a talented actress.
