Samantha Akkineni

Samantha Akkineni

Samantha Akkineni is an Indian actress who has established a career in the Telugu and Tamil film industries. While pursuing a degree in commerce, she worked part-time on modelling assignments. She made her acting debut in Gautham Menon’s Telugu romance film, Ye Maaya Chesave, which fetched her the Filmfare Award for Best Debut Actress and a Nandi Award. Since then, she has primarily opted to appear in the leading female role in hero-centric Telugu or Tamil films.

About Samantha Akkineni in brief

Summary Samantha AkkineniSamantha Akkineni is an Indian actress who has established a career in the Telugu and Tamil film industries. She is a recipient of several awards including four Filmfare Awards. While pursuing a degree in commerce, she worked part-time on modelling assignments. She made her acting debut in Gautham Menon’s Telugu romance film, Ye Maaya Chesave, which fetched her the Filmfare Award for Best Debut Actress and a Nandi Award. Since then, she has primarily opted to appear in the leading female role in hero-centric Telugu or Tamil films. Alongside her acting career, she is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products, while she also started her own NGO, Pratyusha Support, to provide medical support for women and children in 2012. She has cited herself as a Tamilian despite having a Telugu father and a Malayali mother. She was born on 28 April 1987 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and is the youngest child of the family to Prabhu and Ninette and two elder brothers Jonathan and David, whilst becoming fluent in the Tamil language. Her father is from Telugu, while her mother is from Alappuzha, Kerala. She currently lives in Chennai with her husband and two children. She works as a fashion stylist and lives in Hyderabad, Hyderabad with her family. Her husband is a former Indian cricket captain, and she has two older brothers who live in Chennai and Hyderabad.

She also has a younger brother, Jonathan, who lives in the United States and works as an assistant director in the film industry. She lives with her parents in Chennai and has two younger brothers, Jonathan and David, who also live in the U.S. and work in the industry in Chennai and Hyderabad. Her brother Jonathan is also a film director and has worked on films such as Eega and A Aa as well as a television presenter. She has three children with husband Ravi Varman, who she met through her modelling career. Her first film was the romantic drama, Baathadi Kaathadi, which was directed and composed by A.R. Rahman. She appeared in the music video for the World Classical Tamil Conference Conference 2010. Her next film was Aa, which also won positive reviews and won her her fourth Filmfare award. Her films Theri, 24, Mersal, and Rangasthalam also were commercially successful. She then appeared in a cameo version of the Tamil versions of the film, portraying an  assistant director who becomes an actress. She followed up by appearing in the third Tamil film, Adharadi, opposite Adharvaa Adharvadi. She became the second actress ever to win both the Film Fare Award for best Tamil Actress and Best Telugu Actress in the same year, for her performances in the films Neethaane En Ponvasantham and Eega.