Born on 7th September 1985, Radhika Apte is an Indian film and stage actress, who made her feature film debut in Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi, co-starring Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao. Apart from starring in Bollywood movies like
Badlapur and
Phobia, Apte has also appeared in a number of Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films.
Early LifeRadhika Apte was born in Pune, Maharashtra to Pune`s leading neurologist Dr. Charudutt Apte. She graduated in Economics and Mathematics from Fergusson College, Pune. Apte is also a trained kathak dancer and after completing her studies, she moved to London to study contemporary dance at London`s Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.
Personal Life While Studying in London, Apte met the British avant-garde composer and violist, Benedict Taylor. The two fell in love and tied the knot in September 2012.
Acting careerApte started her acting career with theater and has been a part of several Marathi plays. She has been long associated with Mohit Takalkar theater group Aasakta Kalamanch and has performed in plays like Tu, Purnaviram, Matra Ratra and Samuel Beckett`s That Time with Rehan Engineer. She prefers doing experimental theater and considers performing on stage her true calling.
Radhika Apte first appeared on screen in Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi in 2005. Directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, the film also starred Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao. She then entered Bengali cinema and played the role of a journalist in Aniruddha Roy Chowdhary`s film Antaheen, along with Aparna Sen, Sharmila Tagore, and Rahul Bose. Later, she starred in movies like The Endless Wait, The Waiting Room, and Rakta Charitra. In 2011, Apte appeared in Ekta Kapoor`s I AM and Shor In The City. Both were anthologies and were critically well received. Apart from doing feature films, Apte has also appeared in famous short movies like Darmiyan, Vakratunda Swaha, That Day After Everyday, and Ahalya, which was a Bengali short film directed by Sujoy Ghosh.
Known for her impeccable performances and unconventional roles, in 2015, Apte starred in movies like Badlapur,
Hunterrr,
Manjhi: The Mountain Man, Kaun Kitne Paani Mai, and
X: Past is Present. All movies were critical hits, and strengthened Radhika Apte`s foothold in the cinematic world of Bollywood.
Her first release in 2016 was Phobia, a psychological thriller in which she essayed the role of Mehak, an artist suffering from agoraphobia. Her performance in the movie received several accolades from the audience and critics alike. This was followed by the gangster drama
Kabali (2016), where Apte was paired opposite South Indian superstar
Rajinikanth.
In 2018, the actress starred in the biographical drama
Pad Man, which featured
Akshay Kumar in the titular role. The anthology film Lust Stories (2018) was the actress` next venture, where she essayed the role of a college professor who has an affair with her student in the segment directed by Anurag Kashyap. The movie opened to near-universal critical acclaim, both for its refreshing theme and great performances by an ensemble cast. In the same year, Apte appeared in the black comedy thriller
Andhadhun (2018), which saw her starring alongside Ayushmann Khurrana and Tabu. The British thriller film The Wedding Guest (2018) and the Bollywood crime film Baazaar (2018) are among the actress` other notable movie credits in recent times. Her other movie releases include Bombairiya (2019), Chithiram Pesuthadi 2 (2019), Raat Akeli Hai (2020) and The Wedding Guest (2020).