Once in a while, an artiste, if lucky, comes across a project that changes their trajectory. For Samantha, the second season of The Family Man was that project. In the eight months since the popular spy thriller dropped online, the actor has become a pan-India star. When we sit down for a chat with Samantha — who is nominated in the Best Actor (Female): Series category at the third season of the mid-day and Radio City Hitlist OTT Awards — we begin with how her life has changed post the success of the Amazon Prime Video series. “It certainly has opened many doors for me in Hindi cinema. There has been no dearth of interesting scripts from Bollywood. It’s a wonderful feeling to wake up every day, and be able to cherry-pick meaty roles on a pan-India level,” she beams.

The actor came on board to play Raji, a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel, even before the first edition of the Manoj Bajpayee-led series became successful. For a star, to dedicate a bulk of dates to one project can be viewed as a risky decision. Did she have second thoughts? “The debate that raged in my mind was over a different reason. I am a risk-taker, so I was interested in taking on this role. But I was scared and had an element of doubt initially because I wasn’t sure whether I could pull off this part. Raji was unlike anything I had attempted in the past. I’m glad that I was able to rise beyond my initial fear, and get into the skin of the character.”

A female star taking the leap of faith can often be a cue for well-meaning people to advise her to stick to the industry norms. Fortunately, she found support from her close ones. “Everyone around me was keen that I do this show. They had more confidence in my acting chops [than I did]. I was the one who was scared, while my well-wishers egged me on to go for it. This show has made me more confident about myself and my craft.”

A conversation about the Raj-DK creation cannot be complete without dissecting Raji. While some view her as an antagonist, many see her as a woman trying to fight for a cause she truly believes in. Where does Samantha stand on the debate? “I was drawn to the role of Raji because I deeply empathised with her trauma, and the rage she felt at the injustice that had been meted out to her people. While I can’t defend the path she chose, I know there had been many discussions regarding the climax of the show. What was ultimately shown was the perfect denouement to the series.”

Cast your vote for the Hitlist OTT Awards

Samantha has been nominated in the Best Actor (Female): Series category for The Family Man S02. 

The other nominees are:

- Huma Qureshi (Maharani)

- Mithila Palkar (Little Things S04)

- Pooja Bhatt (Bombay Begums)

- Ridhi Dogra (The Married Woman)

- Surveen Chawla (Decoupled)

- Sushmita Sen (Aarya S02)

- Zoya Hussain (Grahan)

Log on to www.radiocity.in/hitlistawards to cast your vote.

You can also vote via SMS. Send HITLIST <space> category name <space> your choice (a/b/c as on the website) to 57575.

Voting lines close on March 18.

Samantha trained hard and performed the stunts without employing a body double for the Raj-DK creation.