Pushpa: The Rise dance number Oo Antava was a “challenge” for actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu as she never considered herself a “hot” woman, she said in a recent interview, recalling how her decision to be part of the song was contested by many who were close to her.
Samantha shared that she had decided to do an item number because she wanted to push herself beyond her comfort zone. She was drawn to the fierce attitude and confidence that the song demanded of her. The 38-year-old star explained that the steps and the song allowed her to embrace her sexuality.
“Throughout my life I have never considered myself a good-looking, hot woman and I think that Oo Antava was an opportunity for me to see if I can pull it off. It was honestly a challenge to myself and I was only going to do it once,” Samantha said during a chat with Galatta Plus.
The song elicited mixed response from the audience, who were used to seeing Samantha as “the bubbly girl-next-door”, she said.
“I was always playing the cute bubbly girl next door, and this was not just about the dance. It was about the attitude and the fierce confidence and how comfortable I was in my sexuality. The people around had a mixed reaction to the decision,” shared Samantha.
The actress revealed that the timing of the shoot was particularly difficult, as it came shortly after her divorce from Naga Chaitanya in 2021. Besides, it was the first time someone had offered her an opportunity like this.
“I just felt that nobody had offered me something like this before and something this blatantly sexual. I had sleepless nights before the shoot. I didn’t know if I could pull it off. The first shot was in front of 500 junior artistes and I kept shaking until they said action,” recounted Samantha.
Oo Antava, composed by Devi Sri Prasad with lyrics by Chandrabose and vocals by Indravathi Chauhan, went on to become one of the major highlights of Allu Arjun’s 2021 film Pushpa: The Rise and Samantha’s performance was widely applauded.
However, Samantha has made it clear that this was a one-time experiment. The actioner’s sequel, Pushpa 2: The Rule, features actress Sreeleela in the dance number Kissik.
Samantha is gearing up for the third season of the popular Prime Video series The Family Man. The actress will also star in Raj and DK’s upcoming Netflix fantasy action series Rakt Bramhand – The Bloody Kingdom. Samantha’s maiden production venture, Subham, hit screens on May 9.