Some love stories don't always have a happy ending and it stood true in the case of once happily married, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya. Lovingly known as 'ChaySam' by their fans, Samantha and Chaitanya were the power couple of Tollywood. Although they were completely opposite to each other, together they made a perfect couple.
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Samantha had made her acting debut with Gautam Menon’s Telugu film, Ye Maaya Chesave. With films like Kaththi, Their, Mersal, Rangathalam, Mahanati, Majili and Jaanu, Samantha has probed her mettle in acting. On the other hand, Chaitanya is the son of veteran actor, Akkineni Nagarjuna and had made his acting debut in 2009 with the Telugu film, Josh. It was in 2017 when Samantha and Chaitanya had tied the knot. However, after more than three years of marriage, the duo had announced their separation, breaking the hearts of their million fans. Let's take a look at their beautiful love story and amicable separation.
Samantha’s debut film, Ye Maaya Chesave had not just proved a turning point in her professional life but personal life too. It was during the shooting of this film, she had met her soulmate, Naga Chaitanya, who had played the lead opposite her. During the course of the shooting, the two had struck a great friendship.
They were in their respective relationships as Chaitanya was dating Shruti Haasan at that time, while Samantha was in a relationship with Siddharth. However in 2013, Chaitanya broke up with Shruti and Samantha and Siddharth too had parted their ways.
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It was in 2014 when Samantha and Chaitanya starred together in another film, Autonagar Surya. It is reported that during the shooting of the film, the two had fallen for each other. In 2015, Samantha had tweeted an adorable birthday wish for Chaitanya on her Twitter handle and it had raised quite a few eyebrows. Her birthday wish could be read as:
“Happy birthday to my favourite person. Forever and Always. A great year it’s going to be.”
On her birthday wish, Chaitanya had given the most adorable reply as he had written, "Thank you my papaa" (papaa was the nickname he used to call her). Their cute conversation had started the rumours of a possible relationship.
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Even though they were spotted together on many occasions, neither Samantha nor Naga had confessed about their relationship. In 2015, Chaitanya's father, Nagarjuna had stated that his son had found his soulmate, and ChaySam fans were more than delighted with the happy news.
In May 2016, Samantha and Chaitanya were spotted coming out of a multiplex and in August 2016, when they had attended a wedding together, it was certain that they were surely a couple. And finally, in September 2016, Samantha had finally admitted that she was dating Chaitanya and had added that they were not planning to get married soon.
Both Samantha and Chaitanya's parents were happy to know about their relationship. In an interview with Newindianexpress.com, Chaitanya had said that the first person he told about his relationship was his father, Nagarjuna. He had said:
"The minute he heard the news, he looked at me and said, 'You're telling me this now, but I've known all along. Our families have been supportive and everyone is happy."
On January 29, 2017, Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Akkineni got engaged. The ceremony had taken place at the N-Convention Centre in Hyderabad. Samantha had opted for an ivory saree designed by designer, Krisha Bajaj with an off-shoulder blouse. Samantha’s Saree had Chai-Sam’s (lovingly called by their fans) love story embroidered on it.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya had begun their forever journey on October 6, 2017. They had a dreamy two-day destination wedding in Goa, first according to traditional South Indian Hindu rituals, and later in a Christian wedding.
According to the reports of Free Press Journal, the stunning couple, Samantha and Chaitanya had spent approximately Rs 10 crores for their wedding. The wedding was attended by 150 people and Samantha and Chaitanya had booked chartered flights for their special guests which had included, Mahesh Babu, Prabhas, Chiranjeevi, Allu Arjun, Ram Charan and a few others.
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For their traditional Hindu wedding, Samantha had opted for a beautiful saree of Naga Chaitanya's grandmother, D Rajeshwari which was presented to her. Samantha had paired the ivory Kanjeevaram silk saree with a crimson Sabyasachi blouse, teamed up with temple jewellery. The groom had donned a traditional silk dhoti and shirt for the Hindu wedding.
For the Christian wedding, Samantha had worn a white gown by Krishna Bajaj with an off-shoulder neckline. Her white gown was teamed up with a veil, embellished with crystals, rhinestones, glass beading and handmade organza flowers. She had paired her gown with a stunning diamond necklace coupled with matching earrings. Naga had walked down the aisle with his bride in a black tuxedo. The two of them had looked stunningly beautiful.
Samantha and Chaitanya had shared a warm bond with one another. To mark their third wedding anniversary on October 6, 2020, Samantha had shared a monochrome picture with Chaitanya on her IG handle. Posing with arms around each other, the duo had looked stunning. Along with the picture, Samantha had written:
“You are my person and I am yours, that whatever door we come to, we will open it together. Happy anniversary husband @chayakkineni.”
A few months before their fourth wedding anniversary, reports of trouble in Samantha and Chaitanya's marriage had hit the headlines. The rumours had begun when the actress had dropped ‘Akkineni’ from her name on her social media handles. Her absence from Naga Chaitanya's father, Nagarjuna's birthday bash had added fuel to the fire.
On October 2, 2021, Samantha and Chaitanya had shocked their fans by announcing their mutual separation. They had issued an official statement on their respective IG handles, which could be read as:
"To all our well-wishers. After much deliberation and thought Chay and I have decided to part ways as husband and wife to pursue our own paths. We are fortunate to have a friendship of over a decade that was the very core of our relationship which we believe will always hold a special bond between us.”
After Samantha and Naga Chaitanya had announced their divorce, reports had started doing the rounds in the media that the actress was offered alimony of Rs. 200 crores. However, according to a report in India Today, Samantha had declined the offer. A source close to her had revealed that Samantha had refused the alimony and did not want to take a single penny from Chaitanya or his family.
Samantha and Chaitanya's separation news had sent shockwaves across Tollywood. There has been a lot of theories doing the rounds on social media about their separation. From the Akkineni family opposing her glamourous roles and bold photoshoots to her closeness with her stylist and designer, Pritam Jukalker, numerous speculations are doing the rounds about the split of the 'IT' couple of the South film industry.
Though Samantha and Chaitanya are no longer a couple, their beautiful friendship will always make us fall in love with them and ChaySam will forever stay in the hearts of their fans.
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