Samantha Ruth Prabhu is an Indian film actress and model who appears in Telugu and Tamil films. Born to Malayali and Telugu parents, Samantha was brought up in Tamil Nadu and pursued a career in modeling during her late teens. Despite signing up to Ravi Varman’s Moscowin Kavery in 2007, her first release happened to be the critically acclaimed 2010 Telugu romance film, Ye Maaya Chesave, directed by Gautham Menon.
Early life and family
Born on April 28, 1987 to a Malayali mother and a Telugu father, Samantha was brought up in Chennai, Tamil Nadu as the youngest child of the family to Prabhu and Ninette and two elder brothers Jonathan and David, whilst becoming fluent in the Tamil language. She was brought up speaking Tamil and English at home. As a part of her education, Samantha completed her schooling from Holy Angels Anglo-India High School, T. Nagar and a degree in commerce at Stella Maris College, Chennai.
Career
Despite signing up for three Tamil films in quick succession, Samantha’s first release was Indira Productions’ Gautham Menon directed romance film, Ye Maaya Chesave. The film, a simultaneous remake of the Tamil film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, created much anticipation prior to release, primarily due to the first-time-collaboration between Menon and composer A. R. Rahman. The actress was signed up for the project in mid August 2009 and completed schedules across India and the United States for the film which released in February 2010. The film portrays 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 the film also garnering much critical acclaim. 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”. 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. Both films emerged as grand successes whilst becoming trendsetters in Tamil and Telugu respectively, propelling Samantha to sign bigger projects. 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.
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 the delay of the other two projects. Following agreeing terms in early 2009, the film continued shoot for a year and after several postponements finally released in August 2010 to positive responses. In the film, Samantha plays a student of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), the first such role in Tamil cinema. 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. 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. In the interview, he went on to describe her as an actress with “intelligence” and “potential”, whilst drawing comparisons with noted actress, Revathi. 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. The film gained unanimously poor reviews from critics, however Samantha’s performance was labelled as one of the sole highlights that the film offered. 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. Despite the film, continuing schedules at regular intervals, the film was stalled throughout 2009 and is unlikely to be released. Samantha went onto feature in Vamsi Paidipally’s Brindaavanam in which she had a supporting role alongside NTR Jr and Kajal Aggarwal. 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.
She is currently filming for Dookudu with Mahesh Babu and S. S. Rajamouli’s live action project Eega. She has also signed for a new film to be directed by V. V. Vinayak, co-starring Ram Charan Tej as well as for Gautham Menon’s next bilingual project, starring Jiiva in the lead role.
Filmography
Year Movie Role Language Notes
2010 Ye Maaya Chesave Jessie Thekekuttu Telugu Winner, Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South
Winner, Nandi Special Jury Award
Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu
2010 Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa Nandhini Tamil Guest appearance
2010 Baana Kaathadi Priya Tamil Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Debut Actress
2010 Moscowin Kavery Kaveri Thangavelu Tamil
2010 Brindaavanam Indu Telugu
2011 Nadunissi Naaygal Tamil Guest appearance
2011 Dookudu Telugu Filming
2011 Eega Telugu Filming
Awards
Year Award Category Film Result
2011 CineMAA Awards CineMAA Award for Best Female Debut Ye Maaya Chesave Won
Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu Nominated
Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South Won
Nandi Awards Nandi Special Jury Award Won
TSR TV9 Film Awards TSR TV9 Best Heroine Award Won
Vijay Awards Vijay Award for Best Debut Actress Baana Kaathadi Nominated
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