Samantha Akkineni (Ruth Prabhu; born on 28 April 1987) is an Indian actress who has established a career in the Telugu and Tamil film industries, and is a recipient of several awards including four Filmfare Awards.

 

While pursuing a degree in commerce, Akkineni worked part-time on modelling assignments. She soon received offers for film roles, and made her acting debut in Gautham Menon's critically acclaimed Telugu romance film, Ye Maaya Chesave (2010), which fetched her the Filmfare Award for Best Debut Actress and a Nandi Award. Samantha then became the second actress ever to win both the Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actress and the Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actress in the same year, for her performances in the films Neethaane En Ponvasantham (2012) and Eega (2012). Since then, she has primarily opted to appear in the leading female role in hero-centric Telugu and Tamil films, earning box office success with films including Dookudu (2011), the family dramas Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (2012) and Attarintiki Daredi (2013) and AR Murugadoss's Tamil action film, Kaththi (2014). Her work in the film A Aa (2016) also won positive reviews and won Samantha her fourth Filmfare Award, while her next films Theri (2016), 24 (2016), Mersal (2017), and Rangasthalam (2018) also were commercially successful.