Radhika Apte recalls being told to get ‘better nose, bigger breasts’, says if anybody makes such comments now, she’d have them fired

Radhika Apte recalled the demeaning comments about her body that she'd be subjected to when she started out.

New Delhi | April 12, 2023 12:03 PM IST

3 min read

Radhika Apte will next be seen in Mrs Undercover. (Source: Who Wore What when/Instagram)

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Actor Radhika Apte spoke about being typecast after her initial roles, and recalled the demeaning comments she’d receive about her body when she started out. She said in a new interview that she no longer tolerates such comments, and if anybody were to make them now, she’d make sure to get them fired.

In an interview with Film Companion ahead of the release of her new film, ZEE5’s Mrs Undercover, Radhika looked back on her career and the unfairness that she has observed in the film industry. Although she said that she’d like to bust the myth that the film industry is filled with ‘immoral’ people, she recalled how rude some people had been to her.

Also read | 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’

She said, “Perceptions are strange. People used to think that I could only be a village girl for the longest time, till I did Badlapur. After Badlapur, people thought I could only do sex comedies, I could strip. So, I stopped. I just never said yes to them. Perceptions are a bit bizarre.” Radhika said that she doesn’t care what people think of her, and recalled how she’d be told to alter her appearance in the past. She said, “I lost a film because I was overweight by three or four kilos. Of course, when you’re new, they say, ‘Why don’t you get a better nose; why don’t you get bigger breasts?’ That was in the beginning. In the middle, some people would comment on your body as if they had the right to… Now we can talk about it very openly in the last few years because of awareness. We can say, ‘If you say that to me again I’ll make sure you’re out of this project, at least’.”

Radhika also spoke about why she doesn’t make as many public appearances as her contemporaries. She said that she was recently asked if she’d want to attend an awards show because she was winning for her performance in Monica, O My Darling. But she was told that she’d win only on the condition that she attends. Radhika told them to keep the award, and chose to give the event a skip. “What is this nonsense?” she said.

Radhika broke out after starring in Antaheen, and has since appeared in films such as Badlapur, Andhadhun, Pad Man and Vikram Vedha. She has collaborated with Netflix on several projects, such as Sacred Games, Ghoul, Raat Akeli Hai, Lust Stories, and most recently, Monica, O My Darling.

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