Proud of Samantha's growth: Naga Chaitanya

Chennai, Oct 6: Actor Naga Chaitanya, who has admitted that he's in a relationship with Samantha Ruth Prabhu and is planning to marry her next year, says he is extremely proud of her growth as an actress.

Although Chaitanya and Samantha have been seeing each other for a long time, it wasn't until a few months ago that their relationship came into the limelight.

"I'm a very private person and I never felt the need to speak about my relationship in public. My friends have known about it for a long time. Then, when we informed our families, they supported our decision. We plan to get married next year," Naga Chaitanya told IANS.

Refusing to talk about how it all started, Chaitanya said he won't stop Samantha from acting after marriage.

"I don't think I'd ever tell her what she should and shouldn't do. I'm proud of her growth as an actress and I will encourage her to continue working. It was through sheer talent and hard work she got where she is today. I don't think she should throw away her successful career because of marriage," he explained.

He also clarified it's not because of their relationship that Samantha walked out of upcoming Tamil gangster drama "Vada Chennai".

On the career front, Chaitanya is excited about the release of "Premam", the eponymous Telugu remake of the Malayalam blockbuster.

"We've made changes to suit Telugu sensibilities. Hence, this isn't a frame-to-frame remake. I really liked 'Premam' and when we decided to remake it; our intention was never to make a better film. Honestly, this is our take on a wonderful film which was widely appreciated and accepted," he said.

The original featured Nivin Pauly and Sai Pallavi in the lead. Chaitanya has qualms in admitting he took references from Nivin's performance.

"Nivin was terrific in the film. I don't feel ashamed to have taken references from his performance and also from my own life. I strongly feel this film will establish me as an actor," he said.

Directed by Chandoo Mondeti, "Premam" releases worldwide on Friday. It also stars Shruti Haasan, Madonna Sebastian and Anupama Parameswaran.