Samantha Ruth Prabhu, whose father died on Friday, recently opened up on the turbulent bond she shared with him. During a recent interview with Galatta India, the actress got candid about how her relationship with her father shaped her life and personality and how it impacted her self-worth and ways of handling success. “Success does two things: either you think you’re invincible, or you feel undeserving of the love and praise you get. For me, it was the latter,” the actress shared during the interview.
Expressing how her father would downplay her abilities during her childhood leading to low self-worth as an adult, Samantha said, “All my life growing up, I had to fight for validation. My father was kind of like… I think most Indian parents are like that. They think they’re protecting you. He actually told me, ‘You’re not that smart. This is just the standard of Indian education. That’s why even you can get a first rank.’ When you say that to a child, I really believed for the longest time that I’m not smart and not good enough.”
This mindset affected her to the point where she could not process the success of her debut film and the love and adulation she received for it. “When Ye Maaya Chesave became a blockbuster and people showered me with praise, I didn’t know how to accept it. I wasn’t used to it,” she remarked.
Even after the huge success of the movie, Samantha would still doubt that she was not good enough. “I was scared people would wake up and realise I’m not all that talented or cool. I kept pushing myself to be better, to look better, to feel worthy of the adulation,” the actress shared.
But has it changed now? Samantha said it took her over a decade to unlearn and break free from the toxic pattern, and to finally accept herself for who she is. “It took me 10-12 years or more to realise I’m not perfect and never will be. But imperfect is pretty cool too,” she concluded.
