Radhika Apte recalls how people would doubt her intelligence: 'Actresses are equated with dumb women' | Exclusive

Radhika Apte has been vocal about the perception of actors in the public eye, be it about how their bodies are depicted on screen or how their intelligence is perceived in general. In an exclusive chat with DNA recently, the actress opened up about the sory state of affairs when it comes to actors’ public image and whether the changes in it are quick enough.

Talking about how, of late, there has been a gradual decrease in the emphasis on looks as a determining factor for leading roles in Indian cinema, Radhika says, “There are different looking actors who are coming up and that is great. At the end of the day, it is about how you perform and what you look like. It needs to be that.” The actress says that filmmakers and casting directors often mistake charisma for beauty in terms of what they are looking for in their leading artistes. “People mistake for beauty but what they are looking for is charisma. It’s not just the nose and the mouth and the cheek but what charisma you bring, and if you have the power to hold the audience. That’s what really matters,” she says.

And of course, Radhika agrees that actresses have it worse in terms of societal pressure to ‘look a certain way’. As she puts it, “Actresses have it much more because they were the eye candy, always the pretty thing in the film.” Radhika says that even though there are some changes, they are not quite satisfactory. She adds, “Women have been always objectified and put in a bracket where they need to look a certain way. Now, we are trying to break that while we are also trying to make newer moulds where we are again sticking to conventions.”

But it’s not just their looks where actresses are judged. Radhika says thatfemale actors are often considered ‘dumb’ and doubted for their intelligence. Recounting her own recent personal experience, she shares, “Yesterday, I was talking to a tax advisor in Mumbai. I live in two countries and I want to understand my tax structure. He was telling me something and I understood it. He said, ‘my God, I cannot believe you understood. You’re only the second actress I have ever met who understood something so quickly’. I have heard that before from a lot of people. It’s really sad that actors are equated with dumb women who just look a certain way. Of course, it is changing but is it changing that much?”

But how will that change, you ask, and Radhika has a simple response. “I really want the perception of how a woman’s body should be in art, culture or society should change. For that, we all need to come together say ‘this is how I look and this is how it’s going to be’,” the actress sums up.

Radhika is currently starring in Mrs Undercover, a spy comedy. Directed by Anushree Mehta, the film also stars Sumeet Vyas and Rajesh Sharma in lead roles. It release on Zee5 on April 14.