Radhika Apte reveals why she stopped working in South Indian films

Actress Radhika Apte has explained her absence from South Indian cinema after 2019, pointing to a clash of sensibilities and concerns over casting practices. Speaking to News 18 ahead of her Netflix period crime thriller Akka, Radhika called out producers for choosing fairer North Indian actresses instead of local talent.

Casting And Language

Radhika started her career in South cinema with the 2010 Telugu-Hindi film Rakta Charitra, followed by movies like Vetri Selvan, Lion, and Kabali, before her final outing in the 2019 film Chithiram Pesuthadi 2. She stated that she did not want to promote the practice of casting fair-skinned actresses from North India while ignoring beautiful and talented local women who know the local language well. She also pointed out that language was a major barrier because she could not do justice to roles when she did not speak the language and had her voice dubbed by others.

Past Experiences

Reflecting on her early days in the industry, Radhika previously described working on some South Indian film sets as traumatic and called Telugu cinema deeply patriarchal. During a conversation on SCREEN's CreatorXCreator last year, she recalled being the only woman on set in a small town with a team of all men because she was not allowed to get her own team. She also remembered crew members asking for extra padding on her body and cracking lewd jokes about women. Despite these issues, she noted that sets were often very informal, soft, and kind, treating actors like family, though that informal approach sometimes created problems when favors were expected.

Context

Radhika Apte is known for working across multiple film industries in India and the OTT space, balancing mainstream projects with independent cinema. Her upcoming Netflix series Akka also stars Keerthy Suresh and is set to release on October 30.