The Top 7 Radhika Apte Films of All Time

Radhika Apte has established herself as a reliable actor not only in Hindi films but also in Marathi, Bengali, and South Indian films. In Kabali, for example, she played opposite superstar Rajinikanth and held her own. She has an innate ability to easily get under the skin of her characters and can be counted on to do complete justice to any role she is cast in.Presenting a list of her best movies down the years…

1. Manjhi: The Mountain Man (Radhika Apte) (2015)

Director: Ketan Mehta
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte

It’s a film based on Dashrath Manjhi’s life. Manjhi, also known as the ‘Mountain Man,’ is a well-known figure. Manjhi was a poor labourer in Gehlaur village, near Gaya, Bihar, India, who used only a hammer and chisel to carve a 25-foot-deep, 30-foot-wide, and 360-foot-long path through a hill, working for nearly 22 years at a time.Dashrath Manjhi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) lives in a small village near Gaya, Bihar, with his wife Phaguniya Devi (Radhika Apte) and his son. There’s a rocky mountain near his village that people either had to climb or travel round. To gain access to medical care at the nearest town Wazirganj.

One day Manjhi’s pregnant wife falls down while trying to cross the mountain and eventually dies giving birth to a girl. Saddened by her loss and enraged by grief, Manjhi decides to teach the mountain a lesson and for 22 years struggles to carve a path through it.

The other villagers make fun of him, but he persists in his project. His success demonstrates that if you have enough faith, you can move mountains. Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte have fantastic chemistry. Nawazuddin shines as both a young husband and a bitter old man who defies all odds to keep his promise.Ironically, after the real Manjhi’s death in 2010, the government finally built a concrete road to their village.

2. Parched (2015)

Director: Leena Yadav
Cast: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Radhika Apte, Surveen Chawla, Adil Hussain, Lehar Khan, Sayani Gupta

Rani (Tannishtha Chatterjee), is a doting mother who wants her wayward son Gulab (Riddhi Sen) to grow up and tend to his responsibilities. Lajjo (Radhika Apte) is Rani’s friend and is a housewife who’s much abused by her husband for being infertile.Despite being a prostitute, Bijli (Surveen Chawla) is accepted as a friend, and her exploits give the other women a sense of vicarious pleasure. Women have had it with the patriarchal rules imposed by a male-dominated society and have decided to rebel.

Lajjo sleeps with another man in order to get pregnant, Rani sells off her house to pay off her debts, then releases her daughter-in-law out of the forced marriage and asks her to be with her childhood sweetheart. They understand they’ll never be able to live according to their own norms in their village and decide to run away together in search of better prospects. The film was praised for its bold content. And for striking a blow against patriarchy. The performances of the three leads carried the film and came in for a lot of plaudits.

3. Radhika Apte – Phobia (2016)

Director: Pavan Kirpalani
Cast: Radhika Apte, Satyadep Mishra, Ankur Vikal

Mehak is played by Radhika Apte, an artist who suffers from acute agoraphobia as a result of being molested by a taxi driver. She can’t bring herself to leave the house, and her relationship with her initially supportive sister suffers as a result.

She befriends Nikki (Yashaswini Dayama), her next-door neighbour who is a college student. Manu (Ankur Vikal), her other neighbour, is working on anger management issues and is a member of a community laughter club. Manu’s girlfriend Jiah (Amrita Bagchi) used to live in the flat before she left him without explanation, and he has been upset ever since.

Mehak is convinced Jiah was killed as she starts getting visions. But that theory goes for a toss when Jiah returns one day to get her things. Mehak realises the visions she keeps seeing are actually of her own future self, who are warning her of a calamity. Assured of the knowledge of her survival, she does venture outside when danger strikes and manages to reach out to people, overcoming her phobia. Radhika Apte was praised for her superlative acting in the film.

4. Pad Man (Radhika Apte) (2018)

Director: R Balki
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte

In India, men still behave as if periods don’t exist and a large number of women still don’t have access to sanitary pads. Pad Man is a fictionalised account of the life of Arunachalam Murganatham. He understood that only a meagre percentage of women in India use sanitary pads and went on to create a low-cost process for making sanitary napkins. Today, women cooperatives across India use his technology to make low-cost sanitary products. In 2014, Time magazine included him as one of the 100 most influential people across the world. In 2016, The Indian government awarded him with a Padma Shri.

Thanks to his efforts, the taboos associated with menstruation and menstrual hygiene are slowly getting broken at the grassroots level. Akshay Kumar, who played the lead role, embodied the spirit of Arunachalam Murganatham. It was a sincere effort on the actor’s part. His speech towards the end about why he thought of making affordable sanitary pads, though long, was straight from the heart. You felt you’re watching someone with genuine concern for women and not just an actor going through the paces. Radhika Apte acted as the Muse for Akshay’s character. He was moved by all the trouble she faced during the days she was getting her periods. She was made to sleep in the balcony and didn’t even have access to sanitary pads as they were too costly. That’s when he decided to invent an economically viable alternative. 

5. Andhadhun (Radhika Apte) (2018)

Director: Sriram Raghavan
Cast: Tabu, Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan, Manav Vij, Zakir Hussain

Akash (Ayushmann Khurrana) is a gifted pianist who pretends to be blind in order to improve his skills. He’s having an affair with Sophie (Radhika Apte), who has no idea he’s on set. Despite his handicap, she begins to love him.

Pramod Sinha (Anil Dhawan), a faded yesteryears star, is enamoured with his talent and invites him over for a private performance on his anniversary, which is meant to be a surprise for his much younger wife, Simi (Tabu). Unfortunately for everyone involved, Pramod has been murdered by Simi’s lover (Manav Vij), and the ‘blind’ pianist watches the duo dispose of the body.

He soon finds that his handicap isn’t going to help him flee the clutches of the criminals after all.

6. Radhika Apte Movies – Bombairiya (2019)

Director: Pia Sukanya
Cast: Radhika Apte, Siddhanth Kapoor, Akshay Oberoi, Adil Hussain, Ravi Kishan

Meghna Shergill (Radhika Apte), is a PR professional working for maverick superstar Karan Kapoor (Ravi Kishan). Her phone gets snatched by a delivery boy (Siddhanth Kapoor), when they get involved in a traffic accident. Meanwhile, an encounter specialist working undercover (Amit Sial) is targeting people under instructions from jailed politician Pandya (Adil Hussain). How their worlds collide and how the mess Meghna is in gets evened out forms the crux of the film. Radhika Apte once again proved with the film that you can put her in anything and she’ll deliver.

7. Raat Akeli Hai (2020)

Director: Honey Trehan
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte, Shweta Tripathi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Nishant Dahiya, Ila Arun, Swanand Kirkire, Shreedhar Dubey and Aditya Srivastava

A wealthy landlord, with political connections aplenty, gets murdered in his own home the night he got married the second time. His immediate family, which includes his own son and daughter, his widowed sister-in-law and her two grown-up children. and his daughter’s husband, as well as his new bride Radha (Radhika Apte), who had been living with him as his mistress for some time, are the usual suspects. Inspector Jatil Yadav (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) has been assigned to the case, and his superiors are looking for a quick resolution.

As he continues his investigation, a slew of family skeletons emerge, the mysteries deepen, and more bodies pile up. At first, Radhika Apte appears to be the victim, but as the film progresses, she undergoes several transformations. She skillfully brings out the various aspects of Radha’s personality and makes you root for her.

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