Kushi: Finally a simple, light-hearted film where Samantha needn’t shoulder the box office burden alone

Both Naga Chaitanya and Samantha have maintained that Majili is among their career-defining films, often thanking its filmmaker Shiva Nirvana for portraying them in a different light in comparison to the usual mainstream fares. The actress is uniting with the filmmaker again for the romance drama Kushi, in which she’s paired opposite her Mahanati co-star Vijay Deverakonda.

Commemorating Samantha’s birthday, a new look from Kushi was out today. In this simple, elegant look, she appears to be playing a corporate professional hailing from a middle-class family. Donning a green kurta with blue denims, she casts a spell on audiences with her charm in this avatar too. Shiva Nirvana has also written the story, screenplay and dialogues for the film.

Samantha was recently seen in two heavy, intense films - Yashoda and Shaakuntalam, an action thriller and an epic drama, where she shouldered the burden of bringing audiences to theatres and went all out to promote them despite her fragile medical condition. Much like Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kaadhal, the actress couldn’t have asked for a better film than Kushi now.

Also read: Shaakuntalam review: Gunasekhar’s magnum opus is ambitious but falls short of epicness 

Kushi, to release on September 1, is backed by a big banner (Mythri Movie Makers) with an equally prominent male star and a well-known, in-form filmmaker. While Samantha is a crowd-puller with her popularity, the pressure is not solely on her presence to recover the investments this time. Given it deals with a relatable and familiar premise that’ll have a minimum-guarantee appeal, she can afford to take it easy.

Jayaram, Sachin Khedakar, Murali Sharma, Lakshmi, Ali, Rohini, Vennela Kishore, Rahul Ramakrishna, Srikanth Iyengar and Saranya play supporting roles in the film. Naveen Yerneni and Ravishankar Yalamanchili bankroll the film which has cinematography by G Murali and is edited by Prawin Pudi. Hridayam composer Hesham Abdul Wahab makes his Telugu debut with the outing.

Also read: Kushi: Vijay Deverakonda, Samantha starrer gets a new release date; here’s a new poster