By Arundhuti Banerjee

Mumbai, Aug 25 (IANS): When celebrated south Indian actress Samantha Akkineni signed her debut web series 'The Family Man 2' in 2019, the first season of the show was yet to be released. Now, after two seasons and 19 episodes, the show is so loved by the audience that they cannot wait for the third season.

As Samantha won the Best Performance (Female) in Web Series at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, in conversation with IANS she opens up on what made her step into the unknown territory of web series.

Samantha told IANS: "My basic parameter of choosing any script is to try something new. When the story was narrated to me, I felt like Raji's character is something that I have never done before in my career so far. It is an added bonus that being an admirer of Manoj sir's work, I got a chance to work with him on the first project itself, on web series.

"Look, I am an actor who is always looking for a chance to go out of my comfort zone. It is my drive...my self-doubt, my sleepless nights of two-three days before the shooting starts; my constant doubt if I can pull it off, if I can bring life to a character that I never met in reality...that whole nervous energy that drives me crazy, also help me to grow as an artiste."

In the show, Samantha played antagonist 'Raji' who is a rebel leader.

While the actress says she attempted to humanised the character through her performance, decoding her interpretation of 'Raji', Samantha said, "I think Raji is not a negative character at all. She is just on the wrong side of history you know, she is a hero to her people, to her community. As a human beings we all do things that we do not prefer to talk about...but she is fiercely loyal to her people and she is fighting for a cause. I also think that the writer of the show has done a great job with the way the character of Raji has been written, it was well-edged out."

Samantha is a multiple award-winning actress who is known for her acting in films like - 'Ye Maaya Chesave', 'A Aa', 'Neethaane En Ponvasantham', 'Baana Kaathadi', 'Eega' among many others.

Since the release of 'The Family Man 2', the actress has received a lot of love from people worldwide as well as Hindi viewers.

Asked about if such love from the audience excites her to step into Bollywood, Samantha said, "Well, when I did 'The Family Man 2' I did not know how the show will become, but now that people from the north are also loving and appreciating my work, I would say yes, I am little more open to the idea of working in other language projects. Yes, I am open to new ideas, instead of limiting myself to regional cinema."