Samantha Ruth Prabhu
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Samantha Ruth Prabhu (born 28 April 1987) is an Indian film actress and model, who mainly works in the
Telugu and
Tamil film industries. Samantha was raised in
Chennai and pursued a career in modeling during her late teens. Despite signing up to
Ravi Varman's
Moscowin Kavery in 2007, her first release was the critically acclaimed 2010
Telugu romance film,
Ye Maaya Chesave directed by
Gautham Menon. She went on to appear in several commercially successful Telugu films like
Brindavanam,
Dookudu,
Eega and
Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu. Her 2013 film
Attarintiki Daredi is regarded as the highest grossing film in the history of
Telugu Cinema.
In 2013, Samantha became the second actress after
Revathi to win both the
Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actress and the
Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actress in the same year, for films
Neethaane En Ponvasantham and
Eega, respectively.
Early life and family
Born on April 28, 1987 to a
Malayali mother and a
Telugu father, Samantha was raised in
Chennai,
Tamil Nadu becoming fluent in
Tamil language.
[5] Despite her mixed regional background, Samantha has cited that she sees herself as a
Tamilan, as she was brought up speaking Tamil and English at home.
[6][7]
As part of her education, Samantha completed her schooling from
St.Stephens Matriculation school, Pallavaram, Chennai and did her Higher
secondary in Holy Angels Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School, T.Nagar.
She graduated with a
commerce degree from
Stella Maris College, Chennai.
[6]
Career
Debut
Samantha's first release was
Indira Productions'
Gautham Menon directed Telugu film,
Ye Maaya Chesave. The film simultaneously made in
Tamil as
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, created much anticipation prior to release, primarily due to the first-time-collaboration between Gautham Menon and composer
A. R. Rahman.
[8]
The actress was signed up for the project in mid August 2009 and
completed schedules across India and the United States and the film was
released in February 26, 2010.
[9] The film portrayed Samantha as the lead character of
Jessie, which was also the working title of the film; a
Malayali Christian girl living in
Hyderabad, whom the male protagonist, played by
Naga Chaitanya
falls in love with. Upon release, Samantha received very positive
reviews for her portrayal, with film also garnering much critical
acclaim.
[10] Critics at
Sify claimed that Samantha was the "scene-stealer" and her beauty "is alluring" adding that "she was the girl to watch out for".
[10]
Jeevi, from the Idlebrain reviews site, cited that "Samantha’s debut is
one of the best heroine debuts in Telugu cinema" and that her "minute
expressions she gave spoke volumes about her", whilst labelling the film
as a "classic". Samantha, alongside her co-star, Naga Chaitanya, also
appeared in a guest appearance in the Tamil version of the film.
[11] Both films emerged as grand successes in Tamil and Telugu respectively, propelling Samantha to sign bigger projects.
[12] She followed up her collaborations with Gautham Menon and A. R. Rahman by appearing in the music video for the
World Classical Tamil Conference 2010 promotional song,
Semmozhiyaana Tamizh Mozhiyaam, which Menon directed and Rahman composed.
2010
Samantha's next release was the Sathya Jyothi-produced romantic drama,
Baana Kaathadi, opposite
Adharvaa, which was actually the third Tamil film signed by her, but released first due to delay of the other two projects.
[13][14]
Following terms agreed in early 2009, the film continued shoot for a
year and after several postponements finally released in August 2010 to
positive response.
[14][15] In the film, Samantha plays a student of
National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), the first such role in
Tamil cinema.
[16] Her next release, was
Ravi Varman's
Moscowin Kavery,
initially her very first acting assignment, which began in August 2007,
with Samantha, then briefly known as Yasodha, joining the team later in
the year.
[17] The film introduced a host of new actors, with music carried out by
Thaman,
then making his debut in music composing. In an interview, much prior
to release in 2008, Ravi Varman mentioned that he had decided that
Samantha would be the lead actress for his film within three minutes
after viewing one of her commercial assignments.
[18]
In the interview, he went on to describe her as an actress with
"intelligence" and "potential", whilst drawing comparisons with noted
actress,
Revathi.
[18] However, due to Ravi Varman's date conflicts with his projects as a cinematographer, the film languished in
development hell, eventually releasing in August 2010.
[19] The film gained unanimously poor reviews from critics,
[20] however Samantha's performance was labelled as one of the sole highlights that the film offered.
[21] Samantha, during the making of the last three releases, had also signed up for the
Narain starrer,
Pookada Ravi in August 2008 to play the lead role of a modern girl.
[22]
Despite the film continuing schedules at regular intervals, the film
was stalled throughout 2009 and is unlikely to be released.
[23] Samantha went onto feature in
Vamsi Paidipally's Telugu film
Brindaavanam in which she had a supporting role alongside
NTR Jr and
Kajal Aggarwal.
[24]
Her role of Indu was well received despite being shorter in screen time
than her previous roles and the film became her second successful
Telugu film.
[25]
2011 - 2012
In 2011, Samantha made a guest appearance as a mentally ill patient in Gautham Menon's
Nadunisi Naaygal, before featuring in the big budget Telugu film,
Dookudu, alongside
Mahesh Babu. The film was a blockbuster. The film opened to positive review with critics from
CNN-IBN labelling the film as "a treat for Mahesh's fans", adding that Samantha "looks good in song sequences"
[26] The Times Of India
also praised the film mentioning that "Samantha looks beautiful and has
done a great job, though her role as Prashanthi isn't too lengthy".
[27] The film took the largest ever opening for a
Telugu film and grossed
12.58 crores on the first day of its release. In 2012, Samantha made a guest appearance in Gautham Menon's
Ekk Deewana Tha which was the remake of director's own films,
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa and
Ye Maaya Chesave, repeating her role from
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. She then featured in
S. S. Rajamouli's live action Telugu-Tamil bilingual project
Eega/
Naan E[28]
which was also dubbed in Hindi and Malayalam. The film was a
blockbuster and Samantha was praised for her acting. She then signed on
Gautham Menon's trilingual project,
[29]
playing the female lead in all three languages — Telugu, Tamil and
Hindi and shooting all scenes thrice with different co-actors across
languages.
[30] The Telugu and Tamil versions titled
Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu and
Neethaane En Ponvasantham released in December 2012, while the Hindi version,
Assi Nabbe Poorey Sau has been delayed and is expected to be released in 2013.
[31][32]
2013
In the beginning of 2013, she appeared in
Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu that featured
Venkatesh and
Mahesh Babu
in the lead, marking her second film with Mahesh Babu. The film was
critically and commercially successful and her performance was praised
by critics along with the other female lead,
Anjali.
[33]
Mahesh S Koneru of 123telugu.com commented on her performance stating
"Samantha is beautiful and adorable in this movie. Her cute expressions
and romantic scenes with Mahesh Babu make you want to root for her".
[34]
IBN Live too commented positively on her performance stating "Good to
see Samantha shed her glamorous side and welcome performance-oriented
roles, which she only handles with deftness and ease".
[35] Later, in February, she played the lead role in
Nandini Reddy's
Jabardasth co-starring
Siddharth. The film, which was an unofficial remake of the 2010 Hindi film
Band Baaja Baaraat was commercially unsuccessful.
[36]
Oneindia Entertainment in their review commented "Samantha has good
scope in the film and her bubbly characterisation is entertaining. The
actress will surely impress you in both romantic and emotional
sequences. Her belly dance in the song 'Meghamala' is very hot".
[37] She then starred in
Trivikram Srinivas'
Attharintiki Daaredhi with
Pawan Kalyan,
[38] which released to positive reviews and is touted to become the highest-grossing Telugu film of the year. Samantha's next film
Ramayya Vasthavayya directed by
Harish Shankar, featuring
NTR Jr [39] released to mixed reviews on October 11, 2013.
Autonagar Surya opposite
Naga Chaitanya under the direction of
Deva Katta will be her next release.
[40]
Samantha has signed a Tamil film directed by
N. Linguswamy with actor
Suriya.
[41] which is expected to start shooting by November 2013, and
V. V. Vinayak's next with Bellamkonda Suresh's son, Sai Srinivas.
[42] Besides, she was selected to portray the female lead in NTR Jr's next film
Rabhasa (tentative title) as well, which is to be directed by Santosh Srinivas.
[43] Samantha for the first time is playing the role of a mother in
Manam.
[44]
Personal life
In an interview with The Times of India in 2012, Samantha revealed
that she is deeply in love and quite happy in her relationship. She
stated, "We are going very strong and I am very happy". But the actress
refused to say the name of the person.
[45]
Other work
Samantha has endorsed various brands like Chik Shampoo, Gokul Sandiva, Big C Mobiles,
Saravana Stores, Odonil Room Freshening Gel and Dabur Vatika Hair Oil.
[46][47][48] She has recently signed up to endorse Lux and its commercials are expected to be on air starting from 1 November 2013.
[49]
Samantha is associated with a campaign supporting the children suffering from the disease
Hemophilia,
since October 2012. She has been attending various awareness camps by
the NGO to show her support for the same, since then on. In one such
event, Samantha stated, "I'm upset for two months and took break from
work due to a small skin related issue. I can understand how children
diagnosed with hemophilia, a cureless genetic disease feels".
[50] She is also associated with a NGO Pratyusha, a charity organization for children and women.
[51]
Filmography
Awards
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