Samantha Akkineni is on a promotional spree for her latest release Oh Baby on social media and other platforms.
A remake of the Korean film Miss Granny, the fantasy comedy is being helmed by Nandini Reddy, who earlier directed the Dookudu girl in Jabardasth.
For the first time, Samantha has tried her hand at comedy in the company of seasoned actors Rajendra Prasad and Rao Ramesh.
“Comedy is a difficult craft for me. It’s always about getting the timing right and in the process, you feel exhausted. Rajendra Prasad garu helped me on the sets on how to land punches, etc. The scenes in our combination are a laugh riot,” says Samantha.
She has played an enthusiastic journalist, a village belle and a demure wife in her earlier films, but Samantha, who plays a 24-year-old girl, Baby in Oh Baby, says that it is the most challenging role of her career, which spans over a decade.
WATCH TRAILER:
“This is easily the toughest role I have played so far. The film is blended with comedy, emotion and sentiment and my character demanded me to show a range of emotions. That’s why this film holds a special place in my career. I have felt similar vibes for Majili because it was my first project with Naga Chaitanya post our marriage,” says Samantha.
The Chennai girl has become a regular visitor to Tirumala ahead of her film’s release and recently, she has climbed the seven hills on foot for the success of Oh Baby.
Prod her if she believes in sentiments, she explains, “I always visit Tirumala to offer my prayers to the deity just before the release of a film starring Chaitanya. For the first time, I went to seek the blessings of Lord Balaji for Oh Baby.
"I am confident that the film has come out really well and no matter how satisfying is the output, it’s difficult for a heroine to draw the audience to the theatres. So, I’m doing my best to promote the film and can proudly say that the audience will like Oh Baby. The positive feedback to the promos accentuates my belief.”
Oh Baby is the 32-year-old actor’s second remake in her career and talking about working in back-to-back remakes, she says, “This is one of the seven remakes of Miss Granny. So it’s not just any other remake as we have put in a lot of efforts to stay true to the original and adapt it to our sensibilities.”
On her preparation, she reveals, “I don’t have the memories of growing up with my grandparents. I visited many old-age homes, spent some time there observing the old people.
"I’ve realised that they are very much like children and that exercise has helped me pull off Baby’s character.”
She has shared screen space with veteran actor Lakshmi in the film. Recalling her experiences, Sam shares, “We don’t have any scenes in common. But I have inculcated her mannerism by watching her perform closely.
"I have owned Baby’s character so much that I still carry her body language and behave like her. Chinmayi, who dubbed for my character in the film, was telling me that I’m yet to detach myself from this character.”
Samantha has moved away from glamour roles and says there is no more getting carried away by commercial potboilers and is eager to work in different films with universal appeal.
“I don’t want to work in films that follow the routine song and dance template. Even after completing 10 years, this is what you still get, I’m not up for it. I think our directors should understand and write roles that enable female actors to give their best. I like Sekhar Kammula’s films which always have strong female characters. Given an opportunity, I want to do a film in his direction,” she says.
Talking about her upcoming films, she says, “Next up is 96 remake co-starring Sharwanand and a cameo in Manmadhudu 2 directed by Rahul Ravindran.”