Samantha Prabhu didn’t paint a rosy picture of divorce that we have seen many Bollywood stars do in the past. She not only addressed criticism around ‘Oo Antava’ but also gave a nuanced take on the same, saying, ‘I loved that the song was a satire on the male gaze’.
Samantha Prabhu in Koffee With Karan
After an episode that was marred by inside jokes, boring personal anecdotes and a general air of lethargic and disinterested banter, the third episode of Koffee With Karan 7 saw Samantha Prabhu and Akshay Kumar appear as guests on KJo’s couch. While Akshay, who is now a ‘Koffee veteran’ was at the top of his game and being his humorous self, it was Samantha’s retorts, quips and hilarious one-liners that became the talk of Tinsel town. When asked what is the way to her heart, Prabhu quipped, ‘Please take a U-turn, it is closed’. She even called out KJo on portraying marriages as if they are made in heaven like K3G ‘but the reality is KGF’. When KJo overstepped his boundaries and inquired about her personal life, Prabhu asked ‘What happened to your non-encroachment policy?’ Samantha’s unabashed honesty and quick-witted humour was a breath of fresh air, especially after last week’s episode turned out to be a dud. What made her particularly likable was her unfiltered takes on many of the burning issues and controversies around her.
The Male Gaze In ‘Oo Antava’
Samantha Prabhu became the talk-of-the-town when Pushpa: The Rise was released back in December 2021. Her bold avatar in the hit song Oo Antava sent shockwaves across the country and received polarized reactions – with some lauding the song’s progressive lyrics and others slamming it for showing a scantily clad woman dancing with men, thereby normalizing item numbers. Samantha was quick to acknowledge the criticism she received when KJo brought it up. She not only addressed it but gave a nuanced take on the same, saying, ‘I loved that the song was a satire on the male gaze. I know I got some criticism for pandering to male gaze but who else can satirize the male gaze but a nautch girl that I was playing in the song?’ She added, ‘The problem is the way people perceive it.’ Whether you agree with her take or not, we all can agree that it takes guts for an actress to address a controversy as big as the one Samantha was embroiled in. She is also one of the few actresses in recent times who has dared to acknowledge just how problematic and damaging item numbers can be, albeit in a subtle manner. Her self-awareness and courage to take criticism head-on and respond to controversy is something that many Bollywood stars lack. It was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the show.
Divorce With Nagarjuna
Indian films stars being candid and opening up about their personal life is quite a sight to behold on the rare occasion when it happens. However, only a few stars are willing to be vulnerable and share their divorce story in a no-holds-barred fashion like Samantha did. For starters, she was quick to correct Karan when he addressed Naga Chaitanya as her husband. ‘Ex-husband’, said Prabhu with a deadpan expression which left KJo stumped for a second. Prabhu didn’t paint a rosy picture of divorce that we have seen many Bollywood stars do in the past. She acknowledged that dealing with the separation has been tough but she is a ‘strong woman’. When asked if she has hard feelings for Chaitanya, she replied, ‘If you put us in a room, you would have to hide sharp objects,’ – a statement which is politically incorrect coming from a star as popular as Samantha. How often have we seen actresses, heck even actors, share their feelings about their exes so openly? Samantha was brutally honest however she didn’t come across as being mean or insensitive. A welcome change was that Ruth didn’t blame her fans for being interested in her private life. ‘I chose to be transparent and I chose to reveal a lot of my life. Fans have invested in my life and it is my responsibility to have answers for them which I didn’t.’ In a time when Anushka Sharma is quick to call out media and paparazzi for not letting her private life be private, Samantha accepted that fans have a right to ask questions about her personal life since she has been open about it in the first place. It would frankly be hypocritical of her to not share details of her divorce.
The icing on the cake was when she put KJo in his place when he tried to ‘encroach’ into her personal life and pretended to be politically correct for the cameras which shows that Samantha wouldn’t pander to anyone. ‘You already asked that question. You don’t want to ask it in front of the cameras,’ she said and KJo was stumped for the second time and took a while to come up with a response. Akshay even came up with the catchphrase ‘Koffee With Encroachment Karan’, which went viral on Twitter. Samantha seemed like an equal opportunity offender who holds everyone accountable, even the host of the chat show. Barring Kangana, rarely any guest on KWK has called out Karan quite like Samantha did.
Samantha Talks Nepotism
Irony died a thousand deaths when KJo asked Akshay Kumar and Samantha Prabhu – two very talented outsiders about their take on nepotism. One would expect Karan to ask this question to Alia, Sara and Janhvi who are star kids and benefit from the system, but he conveniently avoided that question when they appeared on the show. Prabhu however, gave an honest take on nepotism – saying, ‘if I fail, only my family knows I have failed. For star kids, the entire country knows about their failure.’ No matter what your stance is on the never-ending nepotism debate, we all can agree that star kids have a tall order to live up to. When asked about the first-mover advantage, Samantha added, ‘What about second, third and fourth? If your father is a coach, he cannot do much to help you unless you are good at the game.’ Samantha brought out the other side of the coin in the nepotism debate and raised pertinent points that cemented the fact that though star kids are privileged, they do have a lot of criticism to deal with.
All in all, Samantha’s maiden appearance on Koffee With Karan 7 was very similar to Kangana Ranaut’s first (and probably last) appearance on the show – full of wit, humour and peppy one-liners. Needless to say, Prabhu has come off as an immensely likable and self-aware actress who holds everyone accountable and is as quick-witted as they come and undoubtedly. has single-handedly revived an otherwise dull season of Koffee With Karan.
Deepansh Duggal is an entertainment, pop-culture and trends writer based in New Delhi. He specializes in op-eds based on the socio-political and gender issues in the world of entertainment and showbiz. He also writes explainers and occasionally reviews shows in the OTT space. He tweets at @Deepansh75.
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