General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Sam Jam

Sam Jam (సామ్ జామ్) is a Telugu-language celebrity talk show hosted by actor Samantha Akkineni on the streaming platform Aha, which ran for one season of eight episodes from November 13, 2020 to January 8, 2021.¹^•² The show marked Samantha's debut as a full-length talk show host and combined celebrity interviews with games, inspiring real-life stories, and philanthropy.³

Key fact	Detail
Format	Celebrity talk show with interviews, fun games, inspiring real-life stories, and philanthropy activities³
Host	Samantha Akkineni, her first full-length talk show as host⁴
Platform	Aha, a Telugu-language streaming platform owned by producer Allu Aravind⁵
Run	Season 1: November 13, 2020 to January 8, 2021, 8 episodes²
First guest	Vijay Deverakonda, in the episode premiering November 13, 2020⁶
Finale	Naga Chaitanya, Samantha's husband at the time, on January 8, 2021¹
Notable moment	Rana Daggubati revealed he had been seriously ill and had 30% chances of death⁵

Spoilers

Episodes and guests

Season 1 ran weekly with one or two guests per episode:¹¹

Vijay Deverakonda (November 13, 2020), on his lockdown experiences, rumors, and handling depression.
Rana Daggubati and Nag Ashwin (November 27, 2020); Rana spoke about his health issues and Ashwin about his Mahanati journey.
Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap (December 4, 2020), the badminton players discussing their relationship; flutist Sudhir performed flute beatboxing.
Tamannaah Bhatia (December 11, 2020), on her long journey in Telugu cinema.
Rakul Preet Singh and Krish Jagarlamudi (December 18, 2020), both discussing controversies they had faced.
Chiranjeevi (December 25, 2020), on his childhood, family, and definition of success.
Allu Arjun and Allu Aravind (January 1, 2021), a New Year special.
Naga Chaitanya (January 8, 2021), the season finale with the real-life couple at their candid best.

Chiranjeevi's appearance was promoted as his first time on a talk show; his episode included a blindfolded Dosa Flip challenge and ran about an hour.¹²^•³ The Rakul Preet Singh episode drew attention when she addressed reports that a celebrity had gifted her a luxury house.⁴ The most widely reported moment of the season came in the Rana Daggubati episode, where the Baahubali actor told Samantha he had been seriously ill and had faced 30% chances of death.⁵

Production and launch

The show was announced on November 6, 2020 at a title launch event in Hyderabad attended by Samantha, Aha promoter Allu Aravind, and the show's director Nandini Reddy, who had directed Samantha in the film Oh Baby.⁷ Samantha described the show as "an extension of my personality" and said it was about sharing happiness in pandemic times; she also said it would address social issues and encourage talent.⁷ She had recently hosted a Dasara special episode of Bigg Boss Telugu 4 before taking on the talk show.⁸

The first episode premiered on November 13, 2020, timed for Deepavali, with Vijay Deverakonda as the first guest.¹ The show also marked the OTT debut of the Telugu comic actor Vennela Kishore.⁹ Harsha Chemudu served as co-host, and Arun Seshkumar is credited as director.¹⁰

Social purpose

Beyond celebrity conversation, the show honored what Aha called changemakers from the Telugu states. In the Tamannaah episode, the auto driver Kavitha Rathod of Narayankhed, who had supported her family from a young age and learned to drive an auto to earn a living in Hyderabad, was invited as a guest and honored; Samantha announced on the episode that Kavitha would be gifted a car, which she later learned to drive in the city.¹³

End of the run and reception

The season ended after eight episodes rather than the ten originally planned; according to a TeluguCinema report, Aha had planned ten episodes with Prabhas as the intended final guest, but the show was called off early, with the platform reportedly feeling the show was not helping it much and that booking guests had become difficult.¹⁴ Reports on Samantha's remuneration differ: Cinejosh reported Rs 10 million (Rs 1 crore) for eight episodes,¹⁵ while TeluguCinema reported Rs 15 million (Rs 1.5 crore) for the planned ten episodes, at Rs 1.5 million (Rs 15 lakh) per episode.¹⁴

The show was listed among the Telugu shows that became popular in 2020, with The News Minute noting Samantha's witty questions that led guests to reveal previously unknown facts about themselves.⁵ In a 2024 interview, Aha's founder Allu Aravind and CEO Ravikant Sabnavis counted Sam Jam among the platform's extremely successful shows.¹⁶ A "Best of Sam Jam Season 01" compilation episode was later added to the platform.³

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Celebrity, family, lifestyle, and court reality series › Lifestyle, dating, and docusoaps › Celebrity and family docusoaps › Premiered 2019 to 2026

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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