Radhika Apte has been quite outspoken about her varied experiences in the film industry. While some of them had left her surprised, a few made her feel deeply uncomfortable and traumatised. Speaking to Indian Express' Screen, the actor opened up in detail about facing sexism in the industry back in the late 2000s and vowed that she would never to face that situation again.
The Andhadhun actor openly stated that she turned her back on many high-profile projects in Bollywood after realising the toxic environment on sets. "When I realized, I said I’m never going to work with them. They’re awful people. Very big people. If I start putting names, you’ll be like, ‘Whaaat?’ But yeah, not working with you guys," she recalled.
Later, Radhika ventured into the South Indian industry as she was facing a severe cash crunch at the time, but that experience too left a sour patch in her life. "I really needed money," she remarked, before sharing, "I remember there was this one time, where I was the only woman on set. We were shooting in this small town. They wanted to add more padding on my bums and breasts. They were like, ‘Amma, more padding!' I said, 'How much more padding?'. How much rounder would you make somebody?"
The actor was left "traumatised" after facing continuous sexism as sometimes, she would be the only woman on set. "I had no manager. I had no agent. My team was all men because they’d given me the role. They said, 'No, you’re not allowed to get your own team'," she said, adding that lewd jokes were made on women on the sets of films. "I’m giving you the extreme example of literally telling you what your physicality needs to be, with no women around you," she noted.
Although Radhika had gone on to make a remarkable name for herself with versatile roles in varied genres of films, the actor still feels shaken by those earlier memories. "I'm usually quite brave, but my heart still skips a beat thinking about those days. I never, ever want to be put in that situation again because I will cry. It was actually traumatic. I wouldn't want any woman to be in that position," she revealed, underlining that despite women being in "powerful positions" who can make a change, they choose not to and termed it as "deeply disturbing."
The actor had previously shared her thoughts on the rise in number of films showcasing violence on screen, noting that is "deeply disturbed" by the trend. "I don't want to be bringing up a child in a world where that's entertainment. I just cannot deal with it," she said, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India. In another interview, she was also open about portrayal of women in Bollywood's romantic films. She confessed to feeling insecure because of the body standards laid down by the industry. "I spent my entire college time thinking that I was not pretty and my body wasn't correct enough...because I didn't fit into a lot of things," she said, criticising the trend of women being stalked in romantic films.
"The whole trend of romantic films where saying no to boys was cool and then being chased was cool...and how the women were treated...it affected me a lot. Then obviously, luckily, you question everything, and you realize it's all rubbish, but it does have a huge effect. I think there's some responsibility you have...you cannot separate yourself from politics," she added.
Radhika Apte can currently be seen in Tisca Chopra's directorial debut Saali Mohabbat, which is currently streaming on ZEE5