Radhika Apte Recalls “Difficult Time” on Some South Indian Film Sets

Actress Radhika Apte, known for her versatile work across Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, and Malayalam cinema, opened up about her challenging experiences on certain South Indian film projects, highlighting the pressures female actors often face on set.

In a conversation with her Saali Mohabbat co-star Divyenndu Sharma for Screen, Radhika said she had done some South Indian films out of financial necessity, while also acknowledging the quality of cinema in the region.

“I am not trying to blanket South Indian films because there is incredible cinema in each industry. But in some of the films I did, I had a really difficult time,” she said.

Radhika recalled one particularly uncomfortable experience during a shoot in a small town, where she was reportedly the only woman on set and faced repeated requests from the crew to add padding to her bust and hips.

“They were like, ‘More padding, amma!’ and I was like, how much more padding? ‘How much rounder will you make somebody?’ So I said tell the director, ‘No padding.’ I had no manager, no agent, the team was all men! That was the first time I realised oh my goodness!”

The actor has previously worked in Tamil films such as All in All Azhagu Raja, Vetri Selvan, and Kabali, as well as the Telugu film Legend, opposite Nandamuri Balakrishna.

Most recently, Radhika appeared in two OTT releases: Saali Mohabbat on Zee5 and Raat Akeli Hai – The Bansal Murders on Netflix.