Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who starred as Raji, an unwavering Sri Lankan Tamil liberation fighter on a suicide mission in the web series The Family Man 2, recently opened up on why she took up the role and what she thought before taking up the project. The actress, in a recent interview with Indian Express, said that she thought that her character would receive polarising reactions. She also described the character as “risky.” She told Indianexpress.com, “I have been put in this cute girl slot. I thought this role would flop really badly or work well. It completely hinged on the performance. It was very scary and risky for me.”
The actress who recently received the Best Actor Award at the Indian Film Festival Of Melbourne (IFFM), said that she “never expected” the kind of response that she got her portrayal of Raji and she told indianexpress.com, “I never expected so many people to call and message me. I got calls from people who never called me before.”
The superstar added that she only takes up the roles that she believes in. “I don’t think, I would sign anything thinking it will get me awards. I sign roles that I really believe in. The roles that I believe will make me a better person but the awards are always welcome as they have always inspired me to do better. In that way, I’m thankful for awards,” added Samantha.
The Family Man 2 showrunners Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK explained the reason behind turning Samantha’s skin tone several noticeable shades browner because “her character demanded that she had to be fit because she’s a military person.” They also stated that as “responsible filmmakers,” they wanted to establish that the idea was not to doubles any context of beauty or race. It was as simple as what the character demanded.
During the interview, Raj explained that Raji’s character was someone who would not have “time for worrying about self-care.” He added, “Here we are trying to get the character of Raji right. We want her to speak it, we want her to look it, we want her to be that action girl who can land the punch, someone who can be physically fit and take on a guy doubles her size. That’s our main challenge. So if you look at what she wears… She’s a soldier, she’s a weather-beaten girl, there’s no time for worrying about self-care. If you’re a soldier in the Himalayas, your face is going to be red, that’s the makeup.”
The Family Man 2 opened to stellar reviews and it is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Both Manoj Bajpayee and Samantha Ruth Prabhu received massive praise for their performances in the series.