Radhika Apte talks about avoiding South films, says fair-skinned North Indian female actors were favoured over local talent

Reflecting on her film career in the south, Radhika Apte questioned why South Indian female actors are overlooked in favor of fair-skinned outsiders.

In her two-decade-long career, Radhika Apte has been part of several South Indian films, including Vetri Selvan, Rajinikanth’s Kabali and Lion. Her last South Indian film was Chithiram Pesuthadi 2 (2019), which released six years after she shot for it. In a recent interaction, Radhika opened up about why she has consciously kept away from South Indian cinema, saying she felt the industry had a bias towards fair-skinned female actors.

Radhika Apte is currently busy with the promotions of her next film Akka.

'North Indian female actors were cast down south because they were fairer'

Speaking to News18, Radhika said, “I could be wrong but in my perception, north Indian actresses were cast down south because they were fairer. I’m not fair. I wonder, why they wouldn’t cast south Indian actresses in south Indian films and get north Indian actresses instead. And here, they want foreigners. We’ve a tendency to do that. I didn’t want to promote that. Women down south are absolutely beautiful, talented and amazing, who know the language really well. They’re excellent performers. I think they should get cast in south films rather than people coming from Bombay, who can’t speak a word in that language and get their voices dubbed by others. I wasn’t very much in favour of all that.”

'Would have to do things out of favour'

Radhika also shared that the atmosphere on South Indian film sets was informal, which could have both advantages and disadvantages. She said, “I did my last south film ten years back. And what I recollect is that things were a bit more informal there. A lot of things happened out of dosti. They were very soft and kind. They would tell me, ‘You’re like family now.’ They treated you as though you were their sister. But that would mean that I would also have to do things out of favour. That would become a problem. But it was also nice because you felt you could go and chat with them.”

About Radhika Apte’s next film, Akka

Radhika will next be seen in Akka, a Netflix gangster drama set in the 1980s in the fictional South Indian kingdom of Pernuru. She plays Rudra, who finds herself in a power struggle with Bhavani, played by Keerthy Suresh.

Written and directed by Dharmaraj Shetty and produced by YRF Entertainment, the series explores power, loyalty, rivalry and revenge. Akka is set to premiere on Netflix on October 30, 2026.