Samantha Akkineni & S. S. Rajamouli Movies Together List — 3 Films

The shape of the work

Samantha Akkineni acted in every film; S. S. Rajamouli directed all of them.

Partnership facts

• Rajamouli didn't want Samantha for Naan Ee. He thought she looked too young and bubbly for the tragic love story. Samantha auditioned anyway, and her emotional range in the test scene made him change his mind on the spot.
• On the sets of Eega, Rajamouli made Samantha act against a green ball on a stick for every single scene — the fly wasn't added until post-production. She had to cry, laugh and fall in love with a tennis ball. She later said it was the hardest acting she ever did.
• Because Samantha and Rajamouli made Eega a hit in Tamil, it directly led to the Telugu original being dubbed and released in Hindi as Makkhi. That Hindi version became a sleeper hit and introduced Rajamouli to a pan-India audience — years before Baahubali.
• During Naan Ee's shoot, Samantha's father passed away. Rajamouli shut down production for a week and flew to her hometown for the funeral. She later said he didn't even ask — just told her 'family first' and cancelled the schedule.
• Samantha once said: 'Rajamouli sir made me act like I was in love with a fly. I felt stupid every day. But when I saw the final film, I cried. He saw something I couldn't.'