Samantha to play Trisha’s role in 96 Telugu remake; actress currently shooting for Miss Granny

2018 has been a tremendous year for Samantha Akkineni. Except Seema Raja, the rest of her four films — Rangasthalam, Mahanati, Irumbuthirai and U-Turn — have minted plenty of profits. Among these four films, Rangasthalam has been declared as the highest grosser in Telugu film industry of this year. Samantha has also given a befitting answer to her critics who often complained that the actress only prefers routine commercial entertainers and family dramas to score hits.

Samantha Akkineni. Image via Facebook

The actress played a wild rebel rural lady Ramalakshmi in Rangasthalam and in a similar rural drama, Seema Raja, Samantha played a martial arts (Silambam) tutor. In Mahanati and U-Turn, she played a journalist but both the roles were diametrically opposite. While Madhuravani (Mahanati) is a timid introvert journalist, Rachana (U-Turn) is an ambitious media personality. Though she was not given enough screen space in Vishal’s Irumbuthirai, her role was meaningful for an action thriller which largely depended on the two powerful male characters.

In an earlier interview to Firstpost, Samantha told us that she wants to play meaningful roles and at the same time, hits like Rangathalam do matters in fetching such powerful characters. The actress also said that she will quit the industry if she doesn’t get good roles. Now, it looks like 2019 will also be a promising year for Samantha as she is only choosing content-driven films.

Samantha is currently busy shooting for the Telugu remake of Korean comedy-drama Miss Granny, directed by Nandini Reddy. The actress calls it a full-length comedy film and it’s quite interesting to shoot for a genre which she hasn’t done before. Miss Granny is all about how an old woman in her 70s magically gets back her youthful look which helps her to see the life from a different perspective.

Reliable sources also tell Firstpost that Samantha has given her nod to the Telugu remake of super hit Tamil romantic-drama 96. “Though Samantha had her own inhibitions, she recently met the film’s director Prem Kumar, who will also be helming the remake. Impressed with his honesty towards the script, the actress has agreed to reprise Trisha’s role in Telugu. Sharwanand will be essaying Vijay Sethupathi’s role," said the source.

Earlier after watching 96, Samantha was in full praise for her good friend Trisha and tweeted “@trishtrashers watched #96TheFilm ..My god What a performance !! Can’t begin to tell you how amazing you were masterclass in acting and such a difficult character to play . God bless .. continue to just rock this show”.

When a fan asked whether she will act in the Telugu remake, Samantha said that 96 shouldn’t be remade. However, only recently, Samantha changed her mind and took up the challenge.

Previously, Trisha and Samantha played the same characters in Gautham Menon’s 2010 romantic drama Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa/Ye Maaya Chesave. Samantha played the female lead in the Telugu version and Trisha essayed the role of Jessie in the Tamil version. Now, nearly after nine years, Samantha and Trisha are once again sharing the same character but this time, the only difference is that the shoot is not going to happen simultaneously and the former will actually act in the remake. Interestingly, Ye Maaya Chesave marked Samantha’s first ever collaboration with her husband Naga Chaitanya.

Popular Telugu producer Dil Raju will be producing the Telugu version of 96 and he has already secured the remake rights from the original producer. The shoot of the remake is likely to begin in early 2019. Besides 96 and Miss Granny remakes, Samantha is also eagerly waiting for the release of National Award-winning director Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s Super Deluxe, which also has an ensemble of actors like Vijay Sethupathi (who plays a transgender), Fahad Faasil and Mysskin.

The first look poster of Samantha as Vaembu who aims to kill someone with a butcher knife went viral and the actress herself says that it is one of the most challenging roles she has ever done in her career.