Samantha Ruth Prabhu is an Indian film actress and model who appears in Telugu and Tamil films. Born to Malayali and Telugu parents, Samantha was brought up in Tamil Nadu and pursued a career in modeling during her late teens. Despite signing up to Ravi Varman's Moscowin Kavery in 2007, her first release happened to be the critically acclaimed 2010 Telugu romance film, Ye Maaya Chesave, directed by Gautham Menon.
Born on April 28, 1987 to a Malayali mother and a Telugu father, Samantha was brought up in Chennai, Tamil Nadu as the youngest child of the family to Prabhu and Ninette and two elder brothers Jonathan and David, whilst becoming fluent in the Tamil language.
She was brought up speaking Tamil and English at home. As a part of her education, Samantha completed her schooling from Holy Angels Anglo-India High School, T. Nagar and a degree in commerce at Stella Maris College, Chennai.
Despite signing up for three Tamil films in quick succession, Samantha's first release was Indira Productions' Gautham Menon directed romance film, Ye Maaya Chesave. The film, a simultaneous remake of the Tamil film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, created much anticipation prior to release, primarily due to the first-time-collaboration between Menon and composer A. R. Rahman.
The actress was signed up for the project in mid August 2009 and completed schedules across India and the United States for the film which released in February 2010.
he film portrays Samantha as the lead character of Jessie, which was also the working title of the film; a Malayali Christian girl living in Hyderabad, whom the male protagonist, played by Naga Chaitanya falls in love with. Upon release, Samantha received very positive reviews for her portrayal, with the film also garnering much critical acclaim.