Meet India’s highest-paid actress, who once had no money for food, faced failed marriage, nearly died from...

From her parents' struggles to afford her education to her battle with a serious health condition, she has emerged as one of the highest-paid stars today. Published: September 22, 2024 12:07 PM IST By Edited by For many years, the highest-paid and most prominent actresses in India primarily came from Hindi film industry. However, in recent years, actresses from the Tamil and Telugu film industries have begun to rise to same level, sharing the spotlight with their Bollywood rivalries.

Among them is one of the most popular and highest-paid actress today, though her journey to success was anything but easy. is one of the most successful actresses in the South today. She has starred in numerous hit films in both Tamil and Telugu.



However, it was her performance in the item song that made her a pan-India star. Well, as per the reports, the actress charged Rs 5 crore for her performance in Born in Chennai to Joseph and Ninette Prabhu, the actress once shared in an interview that how her parents struggled to afford her higher education. Samantha said, “When I was studying, my mom and dad told me to study hard, and you will make it big.

I studied hard. I topped 10th standard, 12th standard, and college. But then, when I wanted to study further, my parents could not afford it.

I had no dreams, no future, nothing,” News 18 quoted her as saying. She also revealed that she had no money for food. “I ate one meal a day for at least two months.

I worked odd jobs. And I’m here today.” In 2012, Samantha experience a prolonged period of illness that forced her to leave two big banner projects.

It was later diagnosed as an immunity disorder. The illness returned in 2022, and Samantha revealed that it was called myositis, for which she underwent extensive treatment. While she said that condition was manageable, she also mentioned that it could be life-threatening in some cases.

In an interview with India Today, Samantha revealed that she was forced to go public about her illness. The actress said, “At that time, I had my female-centric film due for release. I was very sick back then.

It was hard and I wasn’t ready. There were all sorts of speculation going around and misinformation being spread. The producers needed me to promote it, otherwise, it (the film) would just die.

So, I agreed to do one interview. Obviously, I didn’t look the same. I had high doses of medication to keep me stable.

I was forced to. Given a choice, I wouldn’t have come out and announced it.” In 2010, Samantha began dating her Ye Maaya Chesave co-star Naga Chaitanya.

They got married in October 2017, but their marriage lasted less than four years. The couple officially announced their separation and mutual divorce in October 2021. In a later interview with Harper Bazaar, Samantha opened up about her divorce and said, “When I hit an all-time low of, well, a failed marriage, and my health and work were getting affected, it was like a triple whammy; boom, boom, boom.

You know, people go down for far less than what I endured for the last two years or so.” For breaking news and live news updates, like us on or follow us on and . Read more on Latest on .

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