‘I was told nobody makes it to films so easily from television’
Every success story has its share of highs and lows. Radhika Madan’s story too, isn’t different. While at the outset it might look like she had a smooth ride with the successful TV show, Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi, and then getting to work in Pataakha (2018), Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota (2019) and now Angrezi Medium and Shiddat, but the discouragement she faced while making the shift from TV to films gave her sleepless nights. She even went through a phase of self doubt.
“I was completely engrossed in Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi and enjoyed the process, but I felt somewhere something was missing. As a performer, I wanted to do something different and decided to give films a shot,” she says. And the moment people around her learned of her intentions, Radhika shares how many “discouraged” her decision. “They were like nobody from TV makes it to films easily. When I would give the examples of Shah Rukh Khan and Sushant Singh Rajput, they would tell me that there are exceptions. ‘When you are earning so well here [on TV], why do you want to let that comfort go and become a struggler in Bollywood? You might not make it, it’s not an easy space to survive’, they said. I got upset and started pondering about my decision but then thought of giving it a try and got Pataakha and Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota after several auditions… Even then, I was told, ‘Yeh toh shuruat hai, aagey dekho kya hota hai,’ and the like,” adds the actor.
And she reveals it was a rather strange incident which drew her to cinema in the first place. While shooting a scene for her TV show, Radhika felt her character needed to do more and decided to discuss her ideas with the director. However, the latter did not encourage her much.
“I started discussing the scene, but he was really impatient, constantly looking at his watch. Finally he told me, ‘Radhika, jab hum movie karenge na to ek scene ke upar teen din tak discussion karenge, par abhi shoot kar sakte hain kya kyunki samay kam hai’. I understood that, given there’s much less time in hand on a daily show, and it’s all about telecast, but that thing actually stuck with me. And it also made me realise that either you earn money and enjoy your safety or you’ve to struggle because you get time to enjoy the process of creating a character, adapting a story... I had slogged really hard on TV and now wanted to do more. So I thought I would rather give up on my security if it makes me sleep peacefully at night,” she adds.