‘Shaakuntalam’ will hit the screens on April 14. Promoting the Gunasekhar directorial in Mumbai on Thursday, Samantha Ruth Prabhu described the epic mythological movie in glowing terms. Here are the excerpts of what the versatile actress said on the occasion:
“I was doing gritty and real roles like in ‘The Family Man 2’. Right from my childhood, I have always loved the Disney kind of genre. If I am happy, I watch Disney films. If I am sad, I watch them. Playing a Princess in a film like ‘Shaakuntalam’ was special, given that she is a symbol of perfection. It was intimidating initially to play such a role. But I have been taking challenges for the past few years. Producer Dil Raju had a lot of confidence in this script. This is a role I could only dream of as a child. I believe that’s a great endearing factor for all girls, women and families. What I felt while playing the role would be felt by the audience. This is not a simple story. There is love, there is betrayal, there is redemption… It was a complex character that was written many centuries ago.”
“This film is going to be for the entire family. This hot summer, here is a film for the entire family. Let me just say, be prepared to be Disneyfied.”
“Director Gunasekhar sir, I think, is a feminist. He writes female-oriented movies somehow. He is not scared of risk-taking. He wants to narrate great stories that happen to revolve around women.”
About Allu Arha’s debut, Samantha said that the little girl is her own person. “She decides things by herself. I don’t think her father (Allu Arjun) involves and is going to involve himself in her career. It is going to take off differently after this movie. It’s something to look forward to. Families and children are going to connect with ‘Shaakuntalam’. And Arha’s role has come out so beautifully aside from the roles of lead characters.”
Samantha Speeches Videos from Shaakunthalam mumbai press meet – https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18xbU-QW6XsAfPlqLGmn5Sz8BE5sm2MnB?usp=share_link
How has life changed after she became a pan-India star? Samantha started in a lighter vein by saying that somebody must tell her pets that she is a pan-Indian star. “Because I still clean their poop,” she laughed. “I don’t think my life has changed. I am a star only till 6 pm. After that, my life is extremely normal,” Sam added.
“I never ever dreamt that I would come this far. I feel very privileged about the kind of roles that I am getting to do. It’s exhilarating and so fulfilling. I am so happy despite the job being so tough. It’s good to play roles where you get to do action and not to be a woman on screen who gets saved by the hero all the time. It is absolutely great. It’s a new phase for me. I am absolutely enjoying this phase.”
