Radhika Apte on indie cinema: Unless you have commercial viability, smaller films won't get greenlit

Radhika Apte is easily one of the most acclaimed actors in Indian cinema having worked with various directors — Sriram Raghavan, Prakash Raj, R Balki, Leena Yadav and Anurag Kashyap — whose world of cinema is sometimes poles apart. Starting her acting career in theatre, the 32-year-old actor has starred in both commercial blockbusters like Kabali and Padman and indie gems like Parched and Phobia. And she believes that mainstream cinema is vital to the existence of parallel cinema. “Unless you have commercial viability, the films that you really want to do, the smaller films, will not get greenlit. You need to have commercial viability as an actor today,” she said in an interview with HT Cafe. [caption id=“attachment_4521861” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Radhika Apte. Image via Twitter[/caption] Despite being lauded by critics and audience for producing consistently fine performances, Radhika believes she has not been offered any role that is “drastically different.” Something, she hopes her upcoming Hollywood venture and Sriram Raghavan’s film will correct. ( Also read — Anurag Kashyap on working with Radhika Apte in Lust Stories: 'I feel I can push her anywhere. She is very honest' ) Radhika, who has frequently spoken up against the gender pay gap, also believes another pay disparity needs to be addressed urgently. “I think the pay disparity among A-listers is a very small issue. The real pay disparity exists with a lot of character artists, because with A-listers, a lot depends on how much you can make at the box office.” Radhika will join Castle star Stana Katic and Equity actress Sarah Megan Thomas in an untitled female-driven World War II. She was last seen in the Netflix original film Lust Stories , a combination of four short stories directed by Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee.