Exclusive | Radhika Apte on consciously cutting down on acting, getting politics of her work right: ‘I am told how difficult I am all the time’

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After all these years of an incredible body of work, what are you looking for today?

I came to this industry because I loved performing, but you don’t realise when you become a part of the big machine, churning out work constantly. I have now reached a point where I want to take very little work, do what truly inspires me, has notions and thoughts that enrich me as a person. I no longer feel, ‘Oh I must do this for that reason’. I am much more detached now, in a good way, where I am happy to wait for projects to come that I want to do. I am also learning script writing, so that has been very exciting for me lately. Which is why I am also taking less work because I need time to work on my writing skills.

When did you realise that you should consciously cut down work?

In pandemic, when everyone was getting enlightened, this was my moment for that. I had time to think and review what I had done in the past–and I am grateful for the work I did–but it felt like I needed a change. The pause really helped to look at my work and think of what makes me happy. Otherwise, I was working like a dog, didn’t have time to think!

Did you feel the need to change because you felt lost?

Not lost, but under-satisfied. I wasn’t feeling satisfied at all. Having said that, I have done some good films with really good directors but it has always been too short, in the sense, I would like to be working with them much more and those opportunities were just limited. I wanted to do more work and so I needed to change how I create that work.

Did the script writing idea steam from this?

It actually did. I have been meaning to create work that would stimulate me also because as an actor, you are dependent on the jobs that you are offered. Because in pandemic I finally got the time to write, I am discovering how much I like it, how much I also want to make content, write or may be direct. I am not saying it might happen– but at the moment I am studying script writing and I am very excited about it.

When the industry sees someone excel in a particular part, the mentality is to keep offering them similar parts because one is good at it. Was this something that you also battled?

Yes. There was a point where I was only the village girl, then I was only the saree-clad girl, then suddenly after Badlapur I was getting sex comedies, I don’t know what the reason was, then I started getting thrillers. Now (the perception is) that I only do OTT series, when in reality I have done just two. It is also funny how you get categorised. I recently met someone at a screening, and they told me, ‘My God! We see you in every series on Netflix.’ People have some ideas, which don’t really have much to do with reality.

Does that annoy you? The whole thing that you are part of every Netflix project started as a joke, but many started believing you are now only exclusively doing series.

I can’t get annoyed with your impression, which is not supported by statistics! I am not someone who gets annoyed by opinions anyway. I live abroad, when I am not working, I am so disconnected, that I balance it well.

Most of your projects–series or films–come with an assurance that at least its gender and socio politics will be on point. Is that something you are conscious about when you are choosing a script?

Yes, very much so. I don’t mind picking a character which according to me is politically incorrect, as long as the film doesn’t celebrate the values that I don’t agree with. What the film says or talks about, I need to be on-board. Of course, sometimes it goes wrong and then you can’t really back out. Sometimes people change scripts mid-way of shoot, and you are like, ‘Oh my God, now I no longer agree, but what do I do?’ That has happened a couple of times at least.

Were there people around you who would ask why are you putting so much emphasis on the politics of your film being correct?

I am told how difficult I am all the time because of the choices I make. Because of how much I say no to things, because I don’t like the fact that people are late and so on– I am always made to feel I am actually the difficult one! I have now just learnt to ignore it (laughs).

Today people have this notion that the Hindi film industry isn’t making good films anymore, that something is missing. Do you think there is an area where Bollywood is faltering?

I don’t think that the number of films that are good today have changed drastically than five years ago. If I have liked four films, five years ago I would have also liked the same number of films. I think what has really happened is the change from watching films in theatres to the OTT in the pandemic, returning to theatres, (figuring out) what works, doesn’t work leading to people operating with panic.

I am not the right person to talk about this because I haven’t done much research, but I do feel that people were reluctant to come on OTT platforms. Then suddenly there was a lot of money in OTT but during the pandemic, everything shifted to OTT, so the quality came down. They (streamers) realised that they can’t afford to spend so much money. Now, everyone is panicking to make content that can appeal to more audiences. Films also are not working in theatres much, so everyone is panicking. But I don’t think the quality has deteriorated or improved from what it was five years ago.

Which was the last Hindi film that truly surprised you?’

Not surprised, because I was expecting a good film and I got a good film, which was Badhaai Do. Harshavardhan Kulkarni, who I did Hunterrr with, is a dear friend and I really like his sensibilities. I really enjoyed that film.

How much has OTT pushed filmmakers to go out of the box and make something brand new? People feel edgier stuff is happening on streaming while the big screen is still pretty formulaic. 

It is hard to conclude anything right now. The content on OTT, at least in the beginning, was quite different for our country. They were choosing subjects that were probably not appealing to the big screen. What it has really wonderfully done is generate employment for actors, writers, which has given opportunity to people from different backgrounds to write projects. Basically, you write what you know, which is where the variety and diversity comes from. Because of this, you can see representation of different kinds.

But now it has become TV, I am not saying in a bad way. It is like what TV was, but still better quality than what we had… We need to wait at least a couple of years to see where we land. We are going through ups and downs. OTT’s introduction in the country was a big change, followed by the pandemic. I don’t think we can conclude anything at the moment. We need to wait and watch what is going to happen.

When Vikram Vedha’s trailer was out, there was a section which was surprised to see you in it because people believe you look down upon ‘commercial’ cinema.

I have never looked down upon anything. I like something or don’t, just like everyone else. You make choices that suit you. The commercial big films that were offered to me weren’t something that I wanted to be a part of before this. I liked this one, its directors, the subject, the part had an interesting point to make. So, I am not against anything, I just genuinely need to like it. I have never looked at platforms or the length of my roles. I have done TV, short films and OTT platforms before anyone was even willing to do. Why would I have a problem with commercial cinema then?