Radhika Apte

since her early days. Hence she mastered the art of classical dance form, Kathak from Kathak Guru Rohini Bhatte. Later she developed interest in acting and began enjoying fame in school for dance and her acting skill. However she felt she was novice in acting hence she learned the dance form Bharat Natya Mandir as the dance form improves the art of expression which is a key factor of a competent actor. After SSC, she intentionally joined Pune’s renowned Fergusson College because it promoted dramatics and had the unique distinction of conducting Purushottam Karandak, the inter-collegiate drama competition, which is still regarded as a great platform to nurture talent in the field of theatre. After her graduation in Economics and Mathematics, Radhika Apte went to London’s Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and studied contemporary dance form for a year.

Radhika Apte started her career in film just for fun Since acting was her first choice hence after coming from London’s Trinity College, Radhika joined Mohit Takalkar’s theatre group, Aasakta Kalamanch as she believes a genuine actor derives true solace when he acts in front of live audience and get appreciation and motivation to act better. It is a simulating felling that is experienced only by true theater actor. She had a ball time on theatre and did all kinds of play like Tu, Purnaviram, Matra Ratra, Samuel Beckett’s That Time with Rehan Engineer. She did few commercial Hindi play Kanyadaan and an English play named ‘Bombay Black’ etc. When she was busy doing theatre she was spotted by Marathi cinema’s top filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar, who was making Hindi film Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi (2005) staring Shahid Kapoor-Amrita Rao. Radhika was initially reluctant but on Mahesh Manjrekar insistence she did the film for fun and experience the world of cinema. Rahul Bose promoted her in regional cinema Popular actor cum filmmaker Rahul Bose had seen Radhika Apte and was impressed by her good performance in Anahita Uberoi’s play Bombay Black. Hence when he was doing Bengali film Antaheen opposite veteran actresses of Bengali cinema Sharmila Tagore and Aparna Sen, Rahul Bose recommended Radhika’s name to film maker Aniruddha Roy Chowdhary. She offered her a small but powerful role of TV journalist in the film, which Radhika played brilliantly and won rave acclaim. She was flooded with regional cinema offers. She did many regional films like Dhoni in both Tamil and Telugu version and won nomination at Vijay Award and SIIMA Award, Haram (Malayalam), Lai Bhari (Marathi), Pendulum (Bengali) etc. She even did Amol Palekar’s Marathi film Samaantar. Soon she began hitting headline and was noticed by prominent filmmakers like Ram Gopal Varma who gave her break in his film Rakht Charitra II and Ekta Kapoor who offered her Shor in the City. Radhika Apte become universal star after becoming Rajnikanth’s heroine With the rave success of Ekta Kapoor’s Shor in the City, Radhika Apte created further sensation. However after her skin display in Varun Dhawan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s super hit film Badlapur and sex comedy Hunterrr made Radhika Apte a hot favorite among filmmakers. In fact for her sensual and seductive role in Badlapur as Kanchan, Radhika even won nominations at Stardust Award and Producers Guild Film Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Besides being a sex symbol, Radhika Apte proved that she is a competent actress. She tight lipped the film critics by her power packed performance of village girl in art filmmaker Ketan Mehta’s film Manjhi - The Mountain Man. Her dynamic performance yet again drew attention and she was nominated for the prestigious Editor's Choice Stardust Award for Performer of the Year. To add icing on the cake Radhika Apte won real stardom when she was signed to play heroine of Thalaiva Rajnikant in his Tamil film Kabali! The success of Kabali made Radhika Apte a universal star!