Throwback: When Samantha Ruth Prabhu said she was asked not to do the item song ‘Oo Antava’ by her closest people after separation from Naga Chaitanya

Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who set the screens on fire with her crackling chemistry with Allu Arjun in ‘Oo Antava’ from the film ‘Pushpa: The Rise’, once revealed that she was advised by her friends, family, and well-wishers not to be a part of the dance number because she had just announced her separation from Naga Chaitanya then.
During an old interview with Miss Malini, Samantha disclosed that her well-wishers did not want her to be featured in the song, which was released shortly after her and Naga Chaitanya's 2021 separation."While I was offered Oo Antava, I was in the middle of all of the separation. The announcement came and every friend of mine every well-wisher, and my family were like 'you sit at home, you will not do an item song now just after you announced a separation and you will say no to this'," Samantha shared.
The actress continued by saying that even her friends, who had pushed her to work in a project such as ‘Super Deluxe’, were worried about her appearing in a dance number so soon after her divorce. "Even my friends who usually encourage me and say go for it do Super Deluxe, go challenge yourself, even they said no, do not do an item. So it's like okay I'm doing it because I just thought that why should I hide? I mean I did not do anything wrong why should I hide? I was not going to go into hiding and wait for all of the trolling and abuse to go away and then slowly creep back in like some someone who had committed a crime. I was not going to do that. I gave my marriage 100 it did not work out but I was not going to beat myself up and feel guilty for something that I didn't do," Samantha shared.
On the work front, Samantha is gearing up for the release of ‘Citadel: Honey Bunny’ with Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan. The web series will be an Indian adaptation of the Russo brothers' Citadel which starred Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden. The series is created by Sita R. Menon, Raj Nidimoru, and Krishna D. K. The series is expected to premiere later this year.
Apart from that, Samantha will also be seen in ‘Bangaram’, which will show her in an unseen avatar. She announced the project on her 37th birthday, this year. The actress is also reportedly in talks with ‘Jawan’ director Atlee Kumar to star opposite Allu Arjun in his upcoming major project. However, there has been no official confirmation about this yet.