Samantha Ruth Prabhu is one of the highest-paid pan-India actress. She is loved for her work in Tollywood and Bollywood. While people are in awe of her acting prowess, not many know that she had a lot of insecurities while growing up, courtesy of her father. Recently, in an interaction, Samantha shared a shocking statement her late father, Joseph Prabhu, would often tell her and how she believed it for the longest time.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu talked about her strained relationship with her father
In an interview with Galatta India, Samantha talked about her strained relationship with her father and how his opinions nurtured her insecurities. Samantha revealed that for the longest time in her life, she would fight for her father’s validation as he would think that she wasn’t smart enough.
Samantha added that it is Indian parents’ ways of protecting their kids, so her father would often tell her that she wasn’t smart. Not only this, when she would get good grades at school, her father wouldn’t say anything nice. Samantha shared:
“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 told me, ‘You’re not that smart. [He told me]’This is just the standard of Indian education. That’s why even you can get a first rank.'”
Samantha further shared that when someone close says this kind of statement to a child, they start believing it. And that’s what happened with her as she thought she wasn’t smart enough. She was quoted as saying:
“When you say that to a child, I believed for the longest time that I’m not smart or good enough.”
Samantha faced a lot of self-worth issues due to her father’s remark
Samantha further added that her father’s remark that she wasn’t good enough haunted her in adulthood. Despite her successful career, she always worked harder to hone her skills. She started questioning the love that was coming her way. She said:
“When Ye Maaya Chesave became a blockbuster, and people praised me, I didn’t know how to accept it. I wasn’t used to it. 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.”
Samantha added that she was scared that one day, people would wake up and realise that she wasn’t talented or cool. She kept pushing herself to look better and to feel worthy of all the admiration coming her way.
When Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s late father, Joseph Prabhu, shared a note on her divorce after a year
After almost a year, in 2022, Samantha’s late father, Joseph Prabhu, had taken to his Facebook account and posted a series of photos from his daughter’s wedding. Along with it, Samantha’s late father shared how there once was a story which doesn’t exist anymore. The post could be read as:
“Long long ago, there was a story. And it doesn’t exist anymore! So, let’s start a new story. And a new chapter! Thanks for all your feelings. Yes, I sat down for a long time to overcome emotions. Life is too short to sit down with feelings and get bogged down.””
What do you think about Samantha’s once-complicated relationship with her father?
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