‘AKSHAY IS AN EVERGREEN ACTOR’
Radhika Apte praises her Pad Man costar, Akshay Kumar, for his professionalism and dedication
It seems any actor who collaborates with actor Akshay Kumar only has good things to say about the superstar. And actor Radhika Apte is the latest one to join the bandwagon. Having played Akshay’s on-screen wife Gayatri in R Balki’s Pad Man, she describes working with the actor “amazing” before adding that the one thing that is commendable about Akshay is his ability to become any character that he is portraying on screen entirely. “Akshay is an evergreen actor. What I admire the most about him is his ability to transform into the character that he portrays. And when you see him [in the film], you just see the character. He is extremely professional, who not just comes on time, but also makes sure that he finishes his work on time as well. He is very particular about working for eight hours,” says Radhika, praising Akshay’s nature of making his co-stars comfortable and develop a strong bond with them.
Well, along with all this, Radhika also got familiarised with the actor’s prankster side. On the set of Pad Man, Akshay and the director of the film, R Balki, convincingly pulled off a prank on Radhika on the April Fool’s Day (last year). While sharing the story, Radhika could not hold her laughter before revealing what happened. “With straight and serious faces, Balki and Akshay asked me to run from one end of the set to another saying that they are filming it. I followed their instruction, and everyone was looking at me thinking what has gone wrong with me,” she laughs.
Radhika, who received appreciation for her performance, shares the role was quite challenging.
“There is no similarity in the way Gayatri thinks or leads her life and what I am in real life. So it was hard for me to get used to her mindset. At times, I used to get distracted, and Balki had to pull me back on track. I feel as an actor such challenges are exciting to explore,” she says.