Radhika Apte once snapped at a big Telugu star for tickling her on set

Lack of gender equality in the south film industries is prevalent at all levels of cinema production. Speaking about it on a chat show ‘hosted by Neha Dhupia, Radhika Apte, who has been vocal about patriarchy in film industry, revealed how she'd snapped at a well-known Telugu actor who had tried to tickle her on set. She said, “I wouldn’t want to generalize it. But the projects I worked in, there definitely was (lack of gender equality).”


Recounting the incident she said, “(It was) My first day in the Telugu film. There is a scene where I am lying (down), because I am unwell. There are a lot of people; everything is set. And the (male) actor walks in – and we’ve been rehearsing – he walks in… I don’t even know him, and he starts tickling my feet!He was a big actor, I was told he is powerful. But I got up and I snapped at him in front of everybody – the whole crew, the junior artists – everybody. And I looked at him and said, ‘don’t ever, ever do that to me.’ I was so angry, I told him ‘ever, ever!’ He was so shocked, because he didn’t expect that. But he never touched me again.”