In 2018, budding actress
Sri Reddy accumulated a lot of attention in the Telugu states with her accusations on the sexual exploitation of female actors in Tollywood. Her shocking revelations about
casting couch took the entire Southern film fraternity by storm. After this episode, several character artistes joined hands with Sri Reddy and exposed the dark side of the showbiz world.
During the same year,
Samantha Akkineni opened up on her stance on the casting couch controversy. In an exclusive interview to a leading daily, she said “Not just in films, casting couch exists in every industry. I can't comment about each and everyone's virtue or qualities. There will be a few black sheep everywhere. But, I am working in Tamil and Telugu industry for the last eight years. My first film was a hit and I didn't have much of a struggle.”
Mentioning that she has met the most beautiful and helpful people in Telugu and Tamil cinema, the 33-year-old said in 2018 “I do believe from the bottom of my heart that there are a lot of good things in the film industry. I have met the most beautiful and helpful human beings in the industry. That is why I want to continue working in the industry even after I give birth to a child. It is good to note that the government has formed a special cell to look into the complaints of sexual exploitation.”
After wrapping up the second season of The Family Man, Samantha has signed Vignesh Shivan’s Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kadhal which stars
Vijay Sethupathi and
Nayanthara. She is also playing the titular role in Ashwin Saravanan's horror-thriller.