Femina Fab 40 list - Samantha reigns supreme

The September issue of Femina is a must-read and features women from fields such as art and culture, business, education, media, commerce, fashion, science, and more — women like Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Samantha Akkineni, Smriti Irani, Alia Bhatt, Masaba Gupta, Bhumi Pednekar, Dolly Singh, Prajakta Koli, Nita Ambani, and Faye D’Souza. These are galvanizing stories, and readers will also find stirring tales of women who are titans in their fields. Names include Chiki Sarkar, Rohini Iyer, Justices BV Nagarathna, Bela M Trivedi, Hima Kohli and Indira Banerjee, Avani Lekhara, and many more.

Femina Fab 40: Samantha Akkineni, An Actor Par-Excellence

by Kayalvizhi Arivalan | September 24, 2021, 16:10 IST

Femina’s Fabulous 40 for 2021

The Olympians who represented the country on a prestigious platform. Some brought glory and others hope. The women who inspire us and make us believe that anything is possible, especially after the year that we have had. Women who have raised their voices and lent a voice to those who did not have one. There are too many to count, but this selection of 40 women will motivate us to hold our heads high while we march ahead.

The proud recipient of four Filmfare Awards, two Nandi Awards, four South Indian International Movie Awards and three CineMAA Awards, Samantha Akkineni is the darling of Tamil and Telugu cinema. Right from her debut as the beautiful Jessie in the Telugu movie Ye Maaya Chesave, simultaneously made in Tamil as Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, up until her latest release Jaanu, Akkineni has impressed audiences with her charm and presence on screen. Some of her recent films, including Super Deluxe, Oh! Baby, and Majili have been examples of her histrionic versatility.

In 2014, the actor set up the Pratyusha Support trust that serves the underprivileged by offering medical support to women and children and fulfilling the wishes of children suffering from life-threatening medical conditions. In 2020, Akkineni, along with Femina Miss India 2016 runner-up Sushruthi Krishna, started an online affordable apparel brand called Saaki. She also ventured into the field of education with the launch of a pre-school, the Ekam Early Learning Centre in Hyderabad.

The icing on Akkineni’s cake for the year 2021 has to be the second season of The Family Man, the web series in which she plays the role of an antagonist, a rebel leader Rajalekshmi Sekharan, aka Raji. Referencing the suffering of those in the Tamil Eelam (a proposed state for Tamils in Sri Lanka), she is quoted as saying, “Raji’s story, though fictional to me, is a tribute to those that died because of an unequal war.”

She recently wrapped up her scenes for historical drama Shakuntalam, due for release in November, and is shooting for the romantic film Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kadhal.