The film spanned three periods in the life of a couple, focusing on their romantic relationship at school, college and in their late twenties. Samantha revealed that she knew Gautham would want to work with her again and immediately accepted the opportunity to portray the roles when she was offered the film. She felt that she "could relate to the attributes and the circumstances the character goes through" and described Nithya's character as "close to her". To make her performance as authentic as possible, Samantha chose to dub for herself in the Tamil version of the film. The Tamil and Telugu versions of the film opened in December 2012, earning differing reactions. "Neethane En Ponvasantham" earned mixed reviews and performed averagely at the box office, though Samantha received highly positive acclaim for her portrayal. The critic from "The Hindu" noted she "comes up with possibly the best performance by a female lead in Tamil cinema this year" and "her transformation from a gawky teenager to an adult, unable to overcome her ego, is outstanding". Meanwhile, IBN stated "Samantha's transformation from a school kid to an adult is a treat to watch," while Rediff.com noted she is "pretty, graceful, and does an excellent job of conveying the emotions of a girl in love, especially during the school sequence, while concluding she carries the film on her slender shoulders." The Telugu version, "Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu", won positive reviews and did well commercially, while Samantha's performance was equally well appreciated. "The Hindu" wrote she "goes a step further from her famous portrayal of Jessy ("Ye Maaya Chesaave") and brings out the intricacy of her character well", while the "Times of India" wrote "Samantha has the author backed role and she creams it." At the Filmfare Awards ceremony celebrating South Indian films of 2012, the actress subsequently won the Best Actress awards for both the Tamil and Telugu film industries for her performances in "Neethane En Ponvasantham" and "Eega". Samantha became the second ever actress to achieve the feat after Revathi had secured both awards in 1992. 2012 became her most prolific award-winning year and she secured further recognition for Best Actress at the Vijay Awards, Santosham Film Awards and the CineMAA Awards. Although Samantha often portrayed strong character roles in her early films, post-2012, she has appeared increasingly in big-budget, hero-oriented films, which have comparatively smaller scope for actresses.