Samantha Ruth Prabhu reveals she rejected Shaakuntalam initially: ‘Accepted it to confront my fears of last 3 years’

Actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who is gearing up for the release of the upcoming Telugu mythological drama Shaakuntalam, revealed recently that she had originally declined the film offer. She went on to say that she eventually accepted the project to confront the fears that have been haunting her for the last three years. Also read: Samantha Ruth Prabhu takes blessings at Hyderabad’s Peddamma Temple

In Shaakuntalam, Samantha plays the central character Shakuntala, the daughter of Menaka and Viswamithra. The film, produced and directed by Gunasekhar, will be released in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada on April 14. This project marks Samantha’s maiden collaboration with director Gunasekhar.

In an interview with TV 9, Samantha opened up about why she initially turned down the offer to work in Shaakuntalam.“The offer came to me at a time when I had just completed shooting for The Family Man 2. I had just played Raji, a character so different from Shakuntala in so many ways. Shakuntala is a symbol of purity, innocence, grace and dignity. Raji, on the other hand, was all about being gritty and real. I wasn’t sure if I could transform into Shakuntala at the point,” Samantha said.

She eventually signed the project. Explaining the reason behind it, she said she saw it as an opportunity to confront her fear. “In the last 3 years, I have lived in a lot of fear. Shakuntala faced so much hardship but she faced all of it with dignity and grace. When I learnt about it, I took up the offer to confront my fears. How I confronted my fear in the last three years describes my evolution as an actor,” she said.

Samantha described her role in Shaakuntalam as the closest she could get to her dream of playing a ‘Disney princess’. She recently watched the film at a private screening event with director Gunasekhar and producer Dil Raju.

Sharing a picture from the screening, Samantha wrote, “And I finally watched the movie today! Gunasekhar garu.. you have my heart. What a beautiful film! One of our greatest epics brought to life so endearingly! I can’t wait for our family audiences to be swept away by the powerful emotions! And all you kids out there… you’re going to love our magical world! Dil Raju garu and Neelima… Thank you for this wonderful journey. #Shaakuntalam will forever be close to me.”

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