Samantha Ruth Prabhu Opens Up On Her Darkest Year After Divorce From Chay, 'Everything Felt Broken'

South Indian actress, Samantha Ruth Prabhu has never shied away from embracing vulnerability. Time and again, she has turned her darkest phases into stepping stones, rebuilding herself from the ground up like a phoenix that refuses to stay down. In a recent interview, the diva opened up like never before, getting real about heartbreak, mental health, and the journey of finding strength amid unimaginable emotional and physical pain. She reflected on one of the toughest periods of her life: the year following her divorce from Naga Chaitanya.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu recalls the year after her divorce

Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya were once one of the most-adored couples in South Indian cinema. They had a fairytale wedding in 2017 but ended their marriage with a high-profile divorce in 2021. For Samantha, things got worse when she was diagnosed with myositis in 2022. She admitted to spiralling into a “never-ending abyss” and feeling like giving up. However, in a candid chat with Galatta Plus, she revealed how her pain eventually helped her discover newfound strength. In her words:

“I remember once I actually went to the point where I thought like, 'enough, I can't do this anymore'. I had the worst possible thoughts. I obviously didn't have the courage to go ahead and do it… It was hard for a year. There was nothing that was working, there were no answers being given. Every direction I turned, there were no answers. Everything felt broken. I backed out. To go ahead with such thoughts, you need immense courage, and I didn’t have it.”

Yet, it was in her darkest times that she found a flicker of self-preservation deep within her. Instead of acting upon those thoughts, she started finding ways to build her resilience and collect herself, piece by piece. She recalled:

"I obviously chickened out because you need to have lots of guts to act upon these thoughts. So I was like, 'I better find a way to build some kind of resilience and start thinking of other things I can do with my life'.”

Samantha Ruth Prabhu: Then versus now

The Samantha of today is no longer the broken, vulnerable woman she once was. She now wears her heart on her sleeve, transforming bitter memories, such as her wedding dress and ring, into powerful artistic statements that symbolise the strong, resilient woman she has become. This transformative experience has changed her philosophy about pain, success, and life. Samantha shared:

“Now, when people say they are going through a hard time, I don’t tell them to move on. I actually tell them to go through it. There is always a lesson to learn from it and light at the end of the tunnel. It is not my success that taught me a lesson, but my failures and hardships.”

Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s professional front

In addition to acting, Samantha has taken on a new role as a producer. Her debut production, Subham, a horror comedy set in coastal Andhra Pradesh in the early 2000s, hit the theatres on May 9, 2025. She also has a cameo role in the film. Before this, Samantha was seen starring alongside Varun Dhawan in the Amazon Prime Video series, Citadel: Honey Bunny.

In her rawest moment, Samantha chose to stand up, and now, she is stronger, wiser, and unapologetically herself. She is only getting started!

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