'The awful producers didn’t put me up, didn’t pay me': Radhika Apte on her traumatic film debut

Radhika Apte reflects on her 20-year career, expressing a desire to forget her debut film due to a poor production experience.

Radhika Apte, who has carved out a niche for herself over the past two decades with her versatility across films, recently reflected on her career as she completes 20 years in the industry. Surprisingly, the actress prefers to forget her debut film Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!, which featured Shahid Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Amrita Rao, and Arshad Warsi, among others.

Radhika opens up about her horrible experience in first film

Radhika Apte shares her challenging debut experience in Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!, criticising the producers for their treatment.

In an interaction with Indian Express, Radhika recalled the difficult experience during her first film, particularly blaming producer Sangeetha Ahir for the rough start. “The awful producers didn’t put me up, didn’t pay me. When my mother and I asked them to sign a contract, they said, ‘Arey, even Urmila Matondkar didn’t sign a contract. I don’t know if she signed or not,’ but they treated us horribly. Mahesh Manjrekar was a great guy. That’s why I like to forget my film because the production was awful! And I say it out loud,” she shared candidly.

Radhika, who played a supporting role in the film, revealed how she landed the part, “I was doing a play called Brain Surgeon. It was a good play, and we won an award in a state competition. Mahesh Manjrekar was one of the judges. He called me after the play and said, ‘I want to cast you. Then I didn’t do a film for a long time. I finished college, and then I went back to films after a long time. So, I don’t really count that as one of the films I did. But yeah, it’s been two decades.”

Radhika's current project