Samantha Ruth Prabhu On Myositis Diagnosis: 'I Wake Up With Pins, Needles In My Eyes'

Actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who is currently busy promoting her forthcoming film 'Shaakuntalam', opened up on her struggle with the autoimmune disease myositis. She said on some days she would wake up with the feeling of pins and needles in her eyes.

Last year, Samantha took a break from working after she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease. She was shooting for her Telugu film Kushi when she was diagnosed with the medical condition and she took a break for months before returning to the sets very recently.

In an interview with Bollywood Bubble, Samantha spoke about the effects of myositis on her body. “As an actor, you are always expected to display perfection, perfection on Instagram, and perfection in your films. Earlier, I also could never let it go and just accept who I am. I have always wanted to be better and better, look better and better. Finally, now I am at a place where I have no control over this condition,” she said.

Speaking about the side effects of the condition on her body, she said, “One day I am puffy, one day I am fat, one day I am sick. I have no control over how I look. As an actor, your eyes are a medium to express emotions and every day, I wake up with pins and needles in my eyes. I am sensitive to light. I don’t wear glasses just for fun and style, the light actually affects my eyes. I have an intense migraine, and I have intense pain in my eyes, they swell from the pain and this has been the case for the past 8 months. This is probably the worst thing to happen to an actor.”

In Shaakuntalam, Samantha plays the central character Shakuntala, the daughter of Menaka and Viswamithra. The film, produced and directed by Gunasekhar, will be released in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada on April 14. This project marks Samantha’s maiden collaboration with director Gunasekhar.