‘HAPPY WITH THE CRITICAL SUCCESS OF PATAAKHA’
Actor Radhika Madan talks about making her dream debut in the Vishal Bhardwaj film, and her second movie that’s making the rounds at various film festivals
Actor Radhika Madan made a successful transition from television to Bollywood after her debut film, Pataakha opened to great reviews. Now, her second film, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota (which was supposed to be her launch film, originally), has been making the rounds at various film festivals.
Though Pataakha gained brownie points at the critics’ board, it faced a lukewarm response at the box office. Not at all bothered by it at all, Radhika says, “I got a chance to debut with a Vishal Bhardwaj film! It received good reviews from critics, and I am really happy. To be honest, it [low earnings] did dishearten me on some level, but I was just happy that I got that chance to debut. That superseded everything,” she says, adding that the business aspect is not in the hands of the film’s team.
Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, meanwhile was recently awarded the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award at Toronto International Film Festival. Radhika reveals that she was unsure of the film when it was offered to her.
“Nobody [a female actor] thinks of debuting with an action film. I haven’t seen any girl do such action, which Vasan [Bala; director] has made me do, so I was like ‘I have no interest in action’. I told him on the first day ‘Sir, the script is lovely, but I don’t like action. He was like ‘Arre! We are just gonna make it happen’. I had to thus put in double efforts. Abhimanyu [Dassani, lead actor] had learned martial arts. I remember sitting and watching action films for six hours every day,” Radhika tells us.
But the praise made it all seem worthwhile. “We didn’t expect such love and response that we received in Toronto. With this film, we didn’t expect anything, we just had fun. It was a shock for us when the selectors selected us, and we won the award! In December, we will also be going to Macau,” Radhika signs off.