Pregnant Samantha shot Maa Inti Bangaaram car chase, director calls her superstar

Director Nandini Reddy said Samantha Ruth Prabhu filmed the Thassadiya song and a car chase sequence for Maa Inti Bangaaram during her pregnancy. She called her a superstar as the film is heading towards Rs 100-crore mark globally.

In Short

• Samantha acted while pregnant in Maa Inti Bangaaram, including dance and car chase scenes
• Director Nandini Reddy said team ensured Samantha had breaks and avoided strenuous shoots
• Maa Inti Bangaaram is Samantha's first big hit since 2021

Actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu gave it her all for her second production venture, Maa Inti Bangaaram, even when she had discovered that she was pregnant. After the actor hinted at her pregnancy during the film's success celebration and confirmed it a few days later, director BV Nandini Reddy has now said that Samantha shot parts of the film, including a song and a car chase, while pregnant.

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Nandini said Samantha was filming the song Thassadiya when she came to know about the pregnancy. She said the song involved energetic dance movements and that the team still had a car chase sequence left to shoot, though most of the physically demanding portions had already been completed by then.

Nandini said the team took extra care while filming the remaining portions. "We took care that it wasn’t too strenuous for her and that she had enough breaks. It’s also not shot in top sunlight because we were heading into summer while shooting these. We took precautions to ensure she wasn’t exhausted too much," she said.

Maa Inti Bangaaram is Samantha's first major box office success since 2021. Soon after their separation and subsequent divorce from Naga Chaitanya, she was diagnosed with myositis and stepped away from work for a period. Her later projects, Shaakuntalam and Kushi, did not connect with audiences in the same way, but she continued working through her illness and during her pregnancy.

Praising the actor, Nandini said, "She is a superstar in every aspect. Her performance, her humour, her emotions, her action, her dance. I mean, she’s done it all. Our attempt was to show her in all her glory. We knew that itself would do magic for the film because she’s so loved."

She added, "She looks tiny, but she’s got really broad shoulders on which she carries things amazingly well. We all worked together towards one goal while shooting – that is to elevate our hero, Samantha, in the best possible way. And I think everyone was game for it, so it was fun."

The film has also set a box office record by becoming the highest-grossing female-led Telugu film. With worldwide earnings of more than Rs 80 crore, it has gone past the lifetime collection of Anushka Shetty's 2009 horror-fantasy film Arundhati, which earned around Rs 70 crore. Made on a reported budget of Rs 20 crore under Samantha's banner, Tralala Moving Pictures, the film was dubbed and released in Tamil.

The makers said a substantial part of the budget had already been recovered through non-theatrical rights before its June 19 theatrical release.

In 2025, Samantha married director-writer Raj Nidimoru at Coimbatore's Isha Yoga. During the film's promotions, she confirmed her pregnancy and said that she will take a maternity break.

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