Happy Birthday Samantha Ruth Prabhu: The versatile actress set to push boundaries with her upcoming projects

This is Samantha Ruth Prabhu ’s first birthday in twelve years when she won’t be celebrating her special day with the (erstwhile?) love of her life Naga Chaitanya , her boyfriend and soulmate since 2010 when they met on the sets of Ye Maaya Chesave . It was love at first fight….and I do mean, fight. This couple argued till the sunset and returned the next morning to argue some more. But hell, they loved one another. Chaitanya’s father Nagarjuna once told me that Sam was his buddy-Bahu from long before his son actually wedded her. The dream romance merged and melted into a fairytale wedding in 2016. Sharing her excitement, Samantha had said that Chaitanya and she were destined to marry from the time they were born. He supported her in all her endeavours—including her impulsive trip to the US when she took off with just 30 dollars in her purse.

“He is an important part of my journey as a human being and as an actor,” she told me emotionally. Then, what happened? Nobody knows why Samantha walked out on Chaitanya. Mutual friends were shocked. Even Chaitanya’s father Nagarjuna didn’t know this was coming. Whatever her reasons for her decision to end their marriage, we all should have respected her right to do so. With an embarrassing lack of basic decency, the fan clubs of the two stars got into a battle zone, thereby further widening the breach between the couple. Any chance that there was of reconciliation—and there was initially a tenable argument for a patch-up facilitated by the parents of the couple—was effectually quashed by the ugly back-and-forth of accusations and counter-accusations. Ironically Samantha and Chaitanya remained quiet and yet the latter was being accused of “maligning” and “shaming” Samantha. One pro-feminist website even told me they won’t publish any defence of Chaitanya’s family in the breakup since they “knew” that “Sam” was being “maligned” by Nagarjuna’s family. That, let me state, is completely untrue, and “Sam” knows it too. Chaitanya, his father Nagarjuna and the Akkineni family respect her too much to sully her name. The monstrous mischief on the dissevered marriage was masterminded by the two fan(atic) clubs with “fans” hurling barbs from both ends on their idol’s behalf. Whatever her reason for opting out of the seemingly picture-perfect marriage, Samantha deserves her right to make what she will of her life and a career. Who are we to judge her? And just who are the bullies in the Telugu film industry trying to block her career for being a “bad wife”? Sadly there are such bigoted elements in the Telugu film industry, and Samantha is now planning to move to Mumbai to pursue her career. After her separation from her husband, Samantha is getting tempting offers. But the heroes are reluctant to work with her. A leading Telugu banner Sridevi Productions has signed her for a heroine-oriented film. But they are unable to find a leading man. Many A-listers of the Telugu film industry are friends of Nagarjuna. They are wary of offending Nag, although he is not the kind to hold grudges. Besides, Nag remains fond of his former daughter-in-law. Samantha finds herself in exactly the same position as Dimple Kapadia (nee Khanna) after her decision to separate from her superstar husband Rajesh Khanna . When Dimple decided to return to cinema 11 years after her sensational Bobby, chamcha elements from Rajesh Khanna’s camp were of the opinion that “Kakaji won’t like it”. Many filmmakers stayed away from all things Kapadia until Ramesh Sippy belled the cat with Saagar. Samantha needs her Sippy and Saagar. And I hope she finds them soon. She deserves the best. Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.