An Open Letter to Samantha Ruth Prabhu

Hey Samantha, You’re arguably one of the most popular female actors in the country today. While some of it is due to your social media influence and your public image, a large part is because of your fiesty item song in the runaway hit, Ooh Antava in Pushpa.

But, as a millennial woman, you know how I felt when I watched that song? Disappointed, of course, but also slightly confused. I’ll tell you why. You see, Sam, I thought you could do anything. You married into one of the most influential families in South Indian cinema AND sought a divorce, and you are still way more likable than your ex-husband ever will be.

And, here’s the clincher for me. You’re an outsider. You’re from Chennai and still, you broke into Tollywood, one of the biggest nepo-driven industries in India right now.

So, why do this song when you could have chosen to do something more exciting, like a cameo? Never mind. You did what you had to.

Then, a couple of forgettable movies with names of mythological characters happened. They crashed. But not because they had you in the lead. More so because you probably misjudged the creators of these productions and assumed they would give the audience a wonderful, female-driven movie.

You fought on. In spite of your condition and all the pain. And your public image continued to stay sparkling clean. Then, I watched Kushi. This time, I was just plain let down.

Sam, you had everything going for a stellar romantic comedy for the ages. Breathtaking locations, a talented star cast, and to top it all, crackling chemistry with your co-actor. Yet, you were way off the mark. Again, you’re not to blame. You see, there’s only so much an actor can do.

Or, is there? What about a female? A woman? Did you think it was okay to play out a character like Aaradhya, in 2023?

Did you think we, your believers, would accept you in the role of a timid woman with no agency when you’re the opposite of that in real life?

Do you even know how many young women idolize you and are hanging on to every word of what you’re telling them?

For the uninitiated, Kushi is a Telugu movie starring Samantha and Vijay Deverakonda in the lead roles. It’s a typical boy-meets-girl story with its set of opponents (in this case, their fathers who come from either end of the religious spectrum).

Sounds like fun? Watch the movie and you’ll realize that there was nothing in it. It was a lackluster attempt at a movie.

Could it have been better? A thousand times, yes. As a senior actor and a female, you Sam, could have used this movie to place yourself in a new league that very few female A-listers have managed (PC, Alia Bhatt). You probably would have been the first in the South to do that.

Don’t get me wrong. We have a bevy of strong female actors (the bubbly Nithya Menen and the feisty Sai Pallavi, for example) but Sam, you’re in the big league already. I wish you realized that you had the power to shape Aaradhya into a woman of today.

She could be shy, religious, and simple but she’s not someone who’s obsessed with being pregnant within a year of marriage, or like a lost lamb when someone misbehaves with her in the Metro.

Come on, Sam. Don’t tell me you didn’t cringe when you had to watch your male co-actor flex his machismo in an unnecessary action sequence. Okay at least admit that you were laughing in your head when he danced to a silly track that canceled on all wives (yes, in 2023!).

Sam, you have the power to make that change in commercial cinema. You have the reach and the love. It’s a little enviable, really.

And more importantly, I think a little bit of the onus is on you. You need to portray women who are real —  who don’t string men along, who stand up for themselves, who can handle their marital problems on their own, and whose only purpose in life is not to have a child.

As far as your co-actor is concerned, don’t even get me started!

Disappointingly so,

An Indian woman.