Mumbai [India], September 24: Actor Radhika Apte has opened up about uncomfortable experiences she encountered during her career, including an incident in which she was allegedly asked to perform an action sequence in just a bra and underwear. Speaking in a recent conversation with Zoom, the actor also discussed how some filmmakers appeared to assume that she would readily agree to intimate scenes because of her earlier work.
Radhika said that early in her career she had appeared in around four or five films that involved full nudity. According to the actor, this led some people in the industry to develop a perception that she would automatically agree whenever she was asked to perform a similar scene in another project.
She explained that her previous decision to perform a particular intimate scene should not be treated as permission for every future project. Radhika said she began questioning filmmakers about the creative purpose behind such requests, particularly when she felt that an intimate moment was not necessary to the story.
The actor recalled being asked on several occasions to add kissing to scenes without a clear narrative reason. She said that when she questioned why a kiss was required, she sometimes received casual responses suggesting that she could simply do “a little” or improvise for a few seconds. Radhika said such suggestions left her questioning what the filmmakers were actually trying to achieve.
One particular incident involved an action sequence. Radhika said members of the team initially discussed shooting the sequence without fastening the buttons of her shirt. She pointed out that an action scene would naturally involve movement and that the shirt could move during the sequence.
According to Radhika, the conversation then took a different turn, with someone suggesting that she perform the action sequence wearing only a bra and underwear. The actor recalled questioning the purpose of such a suggestion and asking what the team was actually trying to achieve. She said she did not perform the sequence in that manner.
Radhika also made it clear that her comments are not about rejecting intimacy or nudity in cinema altogether. Instead, she questioned situations where such elements may be added without a meaningful creative reason. She said she has developed a stronger understanding of filmmaking and now wants to know why a particular intimate scene is necessary and what it contributes to the story.
Her comments come as conversations around consent, boundaries and the portrayal of intimacy in Indian cinema continue to receive attention. For actors, particularly those who have taken on bold roles in the past, Radhika’s experience highlights the distinction between agreeing to a specific scene for a particular story and being assumed to be comfortable with similar requests in every subsequent project.
Radhika has previously spoken about the public reaction to intimate and nude scenes from her films. In 2016, while discussing her work in Parched, she said she knew the role required nudity and was more surprised by the amount of media attention surrounding the scene than by the scene itself.
The actor is currently seen in Netflix’s Lust Stories 3, an anthology exploring relationships, intimacy and desire. Her latest comments have once again brought attention to the importance of context when intimate scenes are written and filmed.
For Radhika, the central issue appears to be the creative purpose behind a scene and an actor’s ability to question or refuse a request that does not fit that purpose. Her recollection of the action-sequence incident has now drawn attention because of the unusual nature of the request and her response to it.
