Radhika Apte on 'Sacred Games'

Gulf News

Radhika Apte plays a dangerous cat and mouse game in gangster drama Sacred Games.  Read the full Gulf News article: https://gulfnews.com/life-style/celebrity/desi-news/bollywood/sacred-games-saif-ali-khan-takes-on-nawazuddin-siddiqui-1.2246080  See more at: http://gulfnews.com/videos

Transcript

00:00I love the character of Anjali Mathur. I feel you have treaded the grey zone. Perhaps you

00:07can tell us more about your character.

00:09So I play Anjali Mathur who is a RAW agent. RAW is Research Analysis Wing. I didn't know

00:15much about RAW agents basically because there isn't much information available. But we did

00:21some research and had some really wonderful people who helped us who had worked with RAW

00:25agents very closely and discovered much more about them. So we have developed Anjali into

00:30this completely no-nonsense, focused, extremely respectable woman, highly respected by her

00:36juniors, very sharp and intuitive, very brave and wants to be a field agent like her father

00:45used to be. But her seniors, they want her to work behind a desk. So that's her struggle

00:52and how she gets pulled into this Gaitonde case and meets Sartaj and then how the collaboration

00:58begins. So it was a very interesting character to play. Very low-key but very powerful. It's

01:06been an interesting journey.

01:07There's a scene in one of the screeners that I saw. There's an underlying layer of sexism

01:11where your colleague tells you you should work behind the scenes because that's where

01:15you're suited and you take him on. You call him out for it. So do you think in a way you

01:19feel very empowered doing scenes that are reflective of today's issues that women face?

01:25This has been an issue for a long time. It's not a today's issue really. I mean when I'm

01:29performing it's more about the character, about what is happening. But yeah, of course

01:34it's relatable on every level.

01:36Bollywood cinema tends to glamorise RAW agents if you look at popular cinema. In your case,

01:42you're so low-key. That's one of the refreshing parts of Sacred Games. I mean everybody is

01:47low-key. There's no bombasting dialogues being spoken. Was that liberating as an actor

01:51as well?

01:52Of course. Yeah, of course. I mean we spoke about it at the press conference as well because

01:55everyone was expecting the whole look like a woman with many guns. And I was like, absolutely,

02:01exactly right. So I was like, we played her extremely real. I mean you know the great

02:05thing is when you're a RAW agent you cannot attract attention. They cannot wear anything

02:09that will make sound. You can't wear bangles or anything. You cannot wear anything that

02:13will attract that flashlight. It's really interesting details. So we really worked

02:17on that.

02:18And what was the most challenging part about playing this role, Radhika?

02:21I think what is really challenging is because she's a very no-nonsense, what she does is

02:25so minimal. But in that little bit that she does, there is a lot that she has to get done.

02:34So how to do that, how to maintain that balance was a bit of a tricky thing for us to do.

02:39But I think it's come out that way and I think Vikram's really great.

02:43What was the brief that Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap gave you?

02:47Whatever I've told you so far is basically has been the brief and of course when I read

02:51the script we had to develop it further.

02:53Radhika, you have also been one of the actresses who have taken on challenging roles. You tried

02:56to be a bit different. So do you feel you're comfortable in your own skin now? You've found

03:00a good space as an outsider?

03:02I don't like these words outsider, insider. I mean it's just a journey. I'm sort of in

03:08the beginning of it. I'm sure there's a lot more to do. I choose the parts that I relate

03:13to or parts that I find interesting really. There is no strategy other than that behind

03:17my choices.

03:18Being a part of a Netflix original series, the censorship, you know you don't have to

03:22sanitise a certain film. So was that in a way good for you as an actor?

03:28Was very liberating actually. I mean not just because you are allowed to say a few words

03:33that you're not in when there's censorship. It's just that I'm against censorship. I don't

03:38think that should be there in this way, a particular way that it exists.

03:42And I think it just liberates you in terms of your body language, your thinking process,

03:46your improvising. You just can do what you want to go in whichever direction you want

03:51to go to. And that's very liberating. That really makes you feel free and able to express.

03:58What was it acting with Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui? You know great cast as

04:03well who are very good at what they do.

04:05No, it was great. I think the cast was superb. Everyone was very dedicated, very hardworking

04:10and on the same wavelength if I may say so. So it has been really a great journey.

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