Shaakuntalam actress Samantha: Whenever I feel my acting is getting repetitive, I seek inspiration from Malayalam cinema

Samantha, who was last seen in the action thriller Yashoda and is busy hopping between the sets of her upcoming projects Kushi and Citadel, is on a whirlwind promotional tour for Shaakuntalam. Based on Kalidasa’s epic drama, the film, directed by Gunasekhar, is releasing on April 14. The cast and crew of the drama was in Kochi for a promotional event today. Here’s what she said.

“Ellavarkum Namaskaram..Don’t worry, I’m not talking in Malayalam. I still ask my mom why didn’t she teach me Malayalam. My mom hails from Alappuzha and the one thing she didn’t do right is to not teach me this language. In Hyderabad, I keep asking people, how do I say this in Telugu; now I’m asking the same questions for Malayalam,” Samantha said.

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“If I get an opportunity to work with my favourite actors in Malayalam, I will definitely make an effort to learn the language and dub for myself. Malayalam actors are a huge inspiration for me. Whenever I feel that my acting is starting to get repetitive, I watch all Malayalam films, unfortunately with subtitles. It’s truly a learning experience for me,” she added.

“When I shared screen space with Fahadh Faasil in Super Deluxe, I was truly blown away and shocked by his performance. There’s always a freshness in the performances of Malayalam actors; I think it comes naturally for people here. I don’t know how that’s possible. Every single Malayalam actor has inspired me and I’m very happy that a film of mine is releasing here,” the Jaanu actor mentioned.

Also read: Samantha returns to work in Mumbai after dubbing for Shaakuntalam 

Dev Mohan plays Samantha’s on-screen romantic interest while Allu Arha, Sachin Khedekar, Kabir Bedi, Mohan Babu, Prakash Raj, Madhubala, Gautami, Aditi Balan, Ananya Nagalla, Jisshu Sengupta essay crucial roles too. The film is produced by Neelima Guna and presented by Dil Raju under Sri Venkateswara Creations in collaboration with Gunaa Teamworks.