Samantha Ruth Prabhu set the screen ablaze with her impeccable performance on the song Oo Antava from Pushpa. In her first 'item song', she shared the screen space with Allu Arjun and made people swoon over their sizzling hot chemistry. While she pulled it off with grace and ease, there were people who discouraged her from signing the song. In an interview with an entertainment portal, Samantha revealed Oo Antava came to her when she was in 'the middle of the separation' from her husband Naga Chaitanya.

Owing to this, the actress said her family and well-wishers asked her to decline the offer. In the interview, Samantha said, "When I was offered ‘Oo Antava’, it was in the middle of the separation (from Chaitanya). After the announcement came, every well-wisher and every family member was like ‘You will sit at home, you will not do an item song just when you have announced the separation’. Even my friends, who always encouraged me to challenge myself, told me, ‘Do not do an item song’. But I was like, ‘Ok, I am doing it."

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She further added, "I just thought, ‘Why should I hide?’ I did not do anything wrong. I was not going to wait for all of the trolling, abuse and hate to go away and slowly creep back in like someone who committed a crime. I was not going to do that. I gave my marriage 100 percent, it did not work out. But, I was not going to beat myself up and feel guilty for something I didn’t do."

On Koffee With Karan 7, when When Karan Johar, the host of the show, asked Samantha whether Oo Antava was "a rebellious move, a strategic one or you felt, "F**k" it, I'll do it," the actress said, "The third one. I mean why not. I loved the tune, I loved the song and I loved it because it was a satire on the male gaze. I know I got a lot of criticism for pandering to the male gaze while making a satire on the male gaze."

(Source: Miss Malini)