Radhika Apte

Radhika Apte
Apte at Phobia media meet in 2016
Born	(1985-09-07) 7 September 1985 (age 31) Pune, Maharashtra, India
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2005–present
Spouse(s)	Benedict Taylor (m. 2012)

Radhika Apte (born 7 September 1985) is an Indian film and stage actress. Hailing from Pune, Apte began her acting career in theatre, working with the theatre troupe Aasakta in her home town, before venturing into films. She made her feature film debut with a brief role in the Hindi fantasy Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi! (2005).

Apte's first starring role was in the 2009 Bengali social drama Antaheen. She made her Marathi film debut in 2009 with the tragic romance Samaantar. Her Bollywood breakthrough came in 2015, following acclaimed performances in the thriller Badlapur and the comedy Hunterrr, Manjhi - The Mountain Man—and received wide appreciation for the psychological thriller Phobia (2016). She later went on to star in two of the blockbuster films, the Marathi thriller Lai Bhaari (2014) and the Tamil gangster drama Kabali (2016).

Apte was born on 7 September 1985 in Pune, the daughter of Pune's leading neurosurgeon and chairman of Sahyadri Hospital, Dr. Charudutt Apte. From Marathi community by birth, she is an Economics and Mathematics graduate from Fergusson College, Pune. While growing up in Pune, Apte trained under Kathak exponent Rohini Bhate for eight years. After doing four films, she moved to London and studied contemporary dance at London's Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance for a year.

Radhika Apte first appeared in a small role in the Hindi film Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi! in 2005, a project she did "just for fun" while still being in college. Actor Rahul Bose, who had seen Apte perform in Anahita Oberoi's play Bombay Black, suggested her name to director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury who cast her in his Bengali film Antaheen along with Aparna Sen, Sharmila Tagore and Rahul Bose. She played the role of Brinda Roy Menon, a TV journalist, in Antaheen. Riddhima Seal, writing for The Times of India, called Apte a "revelation", further adding "With eyes that speak a thousand words, her passion for work and the loneliness of her heart as she waits to chat every night with that special stranger just strikes the right chord".