She stole the hearts of Telugu film-goers as the unconventional Malayali girl who rebels against her conservative parents in her debut and runaway hit ‘Ye Maaya Chesave’. Samantha Ruth Prabhu has had several hits to her credit since her debut. She won the Best Actress (SIIMA) award for her role in the Attarintiki Daredi (2014). She is booked against several big stars this year.
What is such a successful heroine doing at a corporate hospital in the city? Like the role she played in her first hit Samantha is breaking all conventions and is reaching out to children of the new Andhra Pradesh. Though she is hardly in her 30s, Samantha has already earned the title of “philanthropist”. She was here in the city to enter into an agreement with Andhra Hospitals to help poor children with the money to pay for their hospital bills, particularly the cost of surgery expensive intensive care.
Talking to the media at the Andhra Hospitals she said that she would support the treatment of one child per week through her charitable trust ‘Pratyusha Support’. The charitable body was registered in 2010 and all her earnings from endorsements, product launches and inauguration of various establishments went to it.
According to the agreement, Pratyusha Support bears one-third the cost, Andhra Hospitals would bear one-third and the parents of the child had to bear the remaining one-third of the expenditure.
Ms. Samantha said that the parents of the child would usually be asked to take care of the post-operative cost, but if they were not in a position to meet the expenditure the trust and the hospital would rise to the occasion and meet it. She said initially financial support was extended only to children with haemophilia and thalassemia, but in future help would be extended to all children who required surgery and intensive care. Andhra Hospitals group Managing Director P.V.Ramana Murthy and Children’s services chief P.V.Rama Rao were present.
