Samantha Ruth Prabhu went through quite a tough time after her diagnosis with myositis in 2022. After the diagnosis, the actress worked on Amazon Prime Video’s original series Citadel: Honey Bunny and Kushi. Ahead of the premiere of the series, the team in a recent interview talked about the time when Samantha was extremely unwell.

Recalling one such time, Samantha jokingly said in an interview with Galatta India, “I had a concussion and I forgot the names after that.” She laughed as she continued, “I completely blanked out. That was quite something. Now that I think of it, nobody took me to the hospital. Nobody asked me.”

Writer Sita Menon quickly added, “We were on a call with a doctor.” To which, Samantha responded, “Which doctor?” Sita replied, “You don’t remember because you were concussed.”

Samantha humorously recalled, “I remember, during my concussion, hearing that we have the set only for less than a day, we need to finish the shoot. So in my concussion, I was like, ‘I am coming people, I am coming.’ Then I remember the stunt guy was in front of me, and then I was like, ‘What am I doing?’ and they were like, ‘Okay, cut, not happening.'”

While the team shared a light moment recalling the concussion time, Samantha Ruth Prabhu recalled the time when she felt too sick to be going ahead with the project. She recalled, “I actually begged them to move on because I really didn’t think that I could do it. I was very sure that I couldn’t do it. I was even sharing options with them. I was like, ‘Look at this heroine, she is so amazing.’ I sent like four options and said, ‘She will kill it, please let me be, I can’t do it’. I was really not well.”

The actress, however, was thankful that the team decide to stick with her. She said, “Now that I think of it and now that I am watching this, I am just so glad they didn’t replace me. I am so glad I found the strength to think ‘I can do this.'”

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Raj added, “We have to give credit to Varun and everyone else for this because we had crafted a character. We knew her skill set from Family Man 2. And we knew it was the right balance for Samantha to do but she wasn’t well and needed more time.” Varun quickly added, “I will tell you this, because I don’t keep secrets. A lot of people didn’t want her to do the role.”

Raj said, “Of course, it was very practical. Practically speaking, of course, we had to cast another person.”

Varun further revealed, “Yes, we had reached that point. I remember this discussion. It was almost a breakdown because we had decided to go to the production and ask to push ahead, and nobody knows till when. And because Sam was so locked in everyone’s vision, especially the directors because they have worked with her and Sita, because she has written for her, I also couldn’t think of anyone because everyone was failing in her comparison.”

Samantha Ruth Prabhu revealed what gave her the strength to not quit, claiming her bad times motivated her to do well. She shared, “The funny thing about strength is that you realise it when you hit rock bottom and when you have nothing to lose. People who taste a lot of struggles are actually people who are very lucky because they get to… at least I believe I have learnt more from my bad times than my success. I am who I am today because of what I have learnt from the bad times.”

In the conversation, Samantha also acknowledged and appreciated the people who stood by her side through her tough time. She said, “I appreciate and recognise it. The reason why I am sitting here today is because this group of people didn’t give up on me. It is their love and their faith in me that made me come out of this. I would have taken much longer. I would have succumbed to my situation. I wouldn’t have had anything to fight for to come back up. I am very aware and appreciative of support and love and I can recognise it when I see it.”

Citadel: Honey Bunny will premiere from November 7.

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