What is the story about?
Before pan-India cinema became a trend, Radhika Apte experienced working down South with the biggest names, including Rajinikanth. Born in Tamil Nadu,
the actress went on to act in Hollywood and Bollywood movies as well. During the promotions of her recently released film, Saali Mohabbat, Radhika recalled harrowing incidents that happened to her while shooting for projects in one of the Southern industries. Talking about the sexist approach and lack of women working behind the cameras, Apte admitted that she did sign some films to solve monetary issues. Radhika has been vocal about women being ill-treated and misrepresented in cinema.
Radhika Apte's traumatic experience on South film set
During a chat for the Creator X Creator segment by Screen, Radhika told her Saali Mohabbat co-star Divyenndu, “I did some South Indian films because I really needed money. The thing is there is such good cinema also, especially in South India. I am not trying to blanket South Indian films because there is incredible cinema in each industry.”
'More padding Amma'
She added, “But in some of the films I did I had a really difficult time. I remember in fact that on this one film I did, I realised I was the only woman on set when were shooting in this small town. They wanted to add more padding on my bum and my breasts. They were like, ‘More padding amma!’ and I was like how much more padding? ‘How much rounder will you make somebody?’ So I said that tell the director, ‘No padding.’ I was the only woman! I had no manager, no agent, the team was all men! That was the first time I realised oh my goodness!”
The actress concluded by saying, “It was actually traumatic. I never want to be put in that position again because I’ll cry.”
Down South, Radhika acted in films like Kabali, All in All Azhagu Raja, Legend and Vetri Selvan among others.
