Radhika Apte has done limited Telugu movies, and two of them were with Nandamuri Balakrishna. In a recent interview, she spoke about her toughest role, where her character had to marry her uncle, played by a much older co-star. Here's all about it!
The actor was asked about the most challenging role of her career while promoting her newly released series Akka, which she starred in alongside Keerthy Suresh.
Speaking to Zoom, Radhika Apte said, "There was a Telugu film I did where I had to marry my mama (maternal uncle). That was the most challenging role. Everything about it, I hated."
Keerthy first looked surprised and then broke out laughing. She explained to the stunned host and audience, "It's a very Tamil, Telugu thing where you marry your uncle."
Radhika, however, interjected.
"Yeah, but also, like, I had to romance a much older actor. It's a very patriarchal situation and place. For me, that was the toughest thing. And then I die in the middle of it. He had to throw me (gestures over his shoulder) and then do action. I was like, when am I going to die?"
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Radhika did not name the Telugu movie, but the scenes she describes point to Boyapati Srinu's 2014 movie Legend.
Her character pursues her bava (mama's son), not her uncle, which is also common in Telugu and Tamil culture. Balakrishna was 54 when Legend was released, while Radhika was 29.
Radhika Apte's Telugu Movies
Radhika made her Telugu debut in 2010 with Ram Gopal Varma's Rakta Charitra movie, which was also released in Hindi. In 2012, she starred in Prakash Raj's Dhoni, which was technically a Tamil film and was also released in Telugu.
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After Legend in 2014, she worked with Balakrishna again in 2015 in Satyadev's Lion.
Radhika was most recently seen in Lust Stories 3 on Netflix. Her web series Akka is also streaming on the OTT platform.
FAQ
1. Which Telugu movie was Radhika Apte referring to when she said she 'hated everything' about it?
Although Radhika Apte didn't name the film directly, her description matched director Boyapati Srinu’s 2014 action drama Legend, in which she starred opposite Nandamuri Balakrishna.
2. Why did Radhika Apte call her role in Legend the most challenging of her career?
Radhika stated that she disliked the storyline because her character was written to marry her maternal uncle (mama) and romance a much older actor in a setup she described as deeply patriarchal.
3. What was the age gap between Radhika Apte and her co-star Nandamuri Balakrishna in Legend?
When Legend was released in 2014, Nandamuri Balakrishna was 54 years old, while Radhika Apte was 29, making a 25-year age gap between the two leads.