Netflix’s favorite Radhika Apte has always applauded for by the industry as well the fans for her choice of roles and movies she takes up. She is very straightforward, clear and determined towards any part or character she takes up. The actress was recently nominated for the “Best Actress in Drama Series” for her role in Netflix’s Lust Stories at the International Emmy Awards. Even though she didn’t win any awards that night, she received a “nomination medal” from International Emmy Awards.
Recently, at We The Women panel hosted by Barkha Dutt, Radhika was asked about the kind of movies or roles that she has recently found disturbing. Radhika was quick to answer that she doesn’t watch many movies. She further added that she finds most of the film in the industry disturbing even the movies that are celebrated worldwide and tend to preach itself as a women-centric movie while in general, it is not is disturbing.
Barkha went onto asking the actress whether she finds the industry misogynistic in terms of what the result is and not the people. The actress swiftly answers with saying that on an average yes, the industry is misogynistic in terms of what it creates but no the people because the people know.
She was then asked about the kind of movies or roles she has rejected or turned down because it did not go with her ideology. Radhika mentioned that because she stripped in Badlapur, she was offered a sex comedy movie. She also said that she did a short film “Ahalya” which has a strip scene; the makers assumed that she’d be okay doing sex comedies.
Radhika was questioned about the kind of cinema she’d like to be part of and how she would define the word “progressive” within the spectrum of the medium we have right now. The Lust Stories actress answered by stating the most of the people in the industry write anything in the name of “progressive”. She specifically mentioned that hating men is not being progressive.
She added that movies are a medium of storytelling, but as a director, writer, you are interpreting something. She stated that the interpretation and perspective of the director, writer, and creative team are important to her. Radhika explained that “I can play a male chauvinist, but as a perspective, what do you show is most important.” The Scared Games actress mentioned that if she disagrees with someone’s perspective and interpretation of a character or a movie she has to take up, she turns it down.
Giving an example of a movie she recently turned down was about women taking revenge. The makers wanted to see out the idea of a movie where a woman who was against the ill doings ends be doing the same ill-doings to teach the men a lesson.
“A movie where they have justified that the heinous rapes and everything that’s happening, that’s precisely what we need to do to people who do it to women and the woman becomes precisely like them to do that. I said, but there has to be something else happening at the end. Something more to it but they were like the woman is the man. I said the woman doesn’t want to be the man!”
Radhika Apte is one of the few actresses in the industry known for acing anything she wants to do whether it’s acting or slaying on the red carpets. The Netflix queen will soon make her debut as a director with “Sleepwalkers”.
The project is a short film, which also marks her being the first mainstream actress from Bollywood to venture into the space that hasn’t been captured (short films) by an established actor. The movie that would mark Radhika’s directorial debut is planned to be 30 minutes long.
The face of the OTT platform of the cinema, Radhika Apte will be in “Raat Akeli Hai” alongside Nawazuddin Siddiqui for which the actress has already shot her first schedule.
