It is not often that a director making a trilingual decides to cast the same heroine in all the three versions. And when the actress concerned is a greenhorn taking baby steps in cinema, the probability of such an event becomes even more remote.
But that is exactly what Gautham Menon, the man behind such hits as Khakka Khakka, Varanam Aayiram and Vettayadu Vilayadu has done. The beneficiary of this largesse is none other than the up and coming star of South Indian cinema, Samantha Ruth Prabhu.
Samantha is busy working with Jiiva in Nee Thane En Pon Vasantham in Tamil, with Nani in Yeto Vellipoyindi Manasu in Telugu and with Aditya Roy Kapoor in Assi Nabhe Poori Sau in Hindi, all under the baton of Gautham, and all three being shot simultaneously at a breakneck speed. The star is confident that these films will provide a distinct fillip to her career and that her maiden foray into Bollywood would also turn out to be a fruitful one.
Samantha was first signed by Tamil director Ravi Varman for Moscovin Kaveri on the strength of her performance in ad films.
But the first film that hit theatres was the Telugu romantic comedy Ye Maaya Chesave, directed by Gautham Menon, a remake of his Tamil film Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya. Samantha played the role of a Malayali Christian girl, Jessy, opposite Nagarjuna's son, Naga Chaitanya. Though the actress gave it her best shot, the film met with a lukewarm response at the box office.
The low-budget Tamil film Bana Kathadi resurrected her fledgling career a bit. But Moscovin Kaveri flopped and brought her back to square one. Her performance, however, caught attention and Samantha found Telugu cinema opening its doors for her. She landed a supporting role in Vamsi Padipally's Brindavanam. Though the focus was largely on the two lead stars, Samantha could attract eyeballs largely due to her looks and her hourglass figure.
Her first super hit in Telugu, however, was the Mahesh Babu starrer Dookudu, a film that broke quite a few box office records. The comely actress impressed with her glamour and her performance in the role of Prashanthi. Though the film was hero-oriented, there was enough meat in the role for Samantha to prove her acting prowess.
Vamsi has since signed her on for his next venture Yevadu, where she will be sharing screen space with the current heart throb of the Telugu industry, Chiranjeevi's son, Ramcharan Tej, and another superstar, Allu Arjun.
Samantha will shortly be seen in the multi-star extravaganza Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimallo Chettu with Tollywood biggies Venkatesh and Mahesh Babu and in S S Rajamouli's Eega. Rajamouli's film is slated to be a bilingual socio-fantasy, where the hero, who is killed by the villain, is reborn as a housefly and extracts revenge. The big budget film has Samantha in the lead. There are a number of scenes in which she has reportedly stolen the thunder from more established stars.
Nandini Reddy's untitled film opposite Siddharth and Autonagar Suriya, directed by Deva Khata, are two other Telugu films on her plate. Autonagar Surya, an action-thriller, will see Samantha reunite with Naga Chaitanya. Samantha is confident that they can hit it off again in this venture.
Samantha, who was seen in a brief role in Gautham Menon's psychological thriller Nadu Nisi Naigal, where she essayed the role of a mentally-challenged character, has landed the heroine's role in Mani Ratnam's Kadal.
The film is making brisk progress in outdoor locations and Samantha's fortunes in Tamil cinema should skyrocket after the release of this film. Gautham, who has taken Samantha under his wing, has plans to project her as the next Sridevi through his Hindi venture Assi Nabha Poori Sau.
Samantha is keeping her fingers crossed, but her sights are set on Telugu cinema. Samantha has managed to earn a good name in the industry as a co-operative actress who never creates any hassles for filmmakers. South Indian cinema has a winner in this young star, who is certain to go places.