The
Twitter
was
left
in
splits
recently,
after
Katrina
Kaif
was
chosen
for
the
Smita
Patil
Memorial
Award.
Those
who
mocked
Katrina
for
this
decision
didn't
do
any
justice
to
her,
but
those
who
took
the
call
really
messed
it
up
big
time.
If
we
really
want
to
confer
an
award
in
the
name
of
the
talent
called
Smita
Patil,
who
had
left
us
at
an
age
of
31,
there
is
no
dearth
of
suitable
candidates.
And
among
those,
Radhika
Apte
is
certainly
a
frontrunner.
It
is
too
early
to
compare
31-year-old
Radhika,
with
Smita
now
as
some
have
already
said,
but
there
are
enough
signs
that
this
young
actor
has
a
world
to
conquer.
When
Radhika
was
called
a
"revelation" after
her
Bengali
film
'Antaheen'
was
released
in
2009,
the
adjective
was
not
overstated.
The
actor,
who
was
just
into
her
first
regional
film
and
third
overall,
delivered
a
powerful
performance
as
a
feisty
television
journalist.
Radhika's
journey
towards
the
peak
had
started
from
the
word
go,
something
even
the
mainstream
commercial
actors
do
not
always
experience
-
despite
the
bigger
platforms
and
more
popular
entertainment
that
masala
movies
provide.
The
Honest
Self-Assessment:
Radhika
could
have
also
joined
the
bandwagon
and
secured
the
box
office
fortunes.
In
an
industry
and
time
when
uncertainty
rules
the
roost,
it
takes
a
heart
to
say:
"I
think
the
last
few
years
have
been
good
for
people
like
us
who
are
not
from
the
industry
per
se
and
don't
really
fit
into
the
blockbuster,
commercial
kind
of
cinema.
We
are
getting
meaty
roles
to
play
now
even
when
the
films
don't
revolve
around
the
women.
I
think
it's
a
good
sign
for
us."
The
actor
had
told
this
to
The
Telegraph,
in
an
interview
last
year
when
she
was
asked
whether
this
is
an
exciting
time
for
women
actors.
This
comment
speaks
about
an
honesty
and
a
perfect
self-assessment.
However,
if
one
compares
Radhika
with
Smita,
the
latter
had
eventually
taken
up
glamorous
roles
in
mainstream
films
like
'Shakti' and
'Namak
Halaal'
in
the
early
1980s
after
remaining
exclusively
associated
with
the
small
cinema
for
a
considerable
time.
In
today's
times,
however,
the
strict
compartmentalisation
between
'commercial'
and
'art'
films
do
not
exist
like
earlier,
and
one
hopes
Radhika
will
have
a
better
time
in
dealing
with
things
as
they
come.
The
Fearlessness
But
it
is
not
the
genre
of
her
films
that
makes
Radhika
special.
Her
appeal
lies
in
that
fearlessness
to
experiment,
may
be
a
quality
that
artistes
from
second-rung
cities
acquire
during
their
formative
years.
Whether
it
is
Badlapur,
Hunterr
to
the
latest
Parched
or
in
mini-films
like
Ahalya
or
the
blockbuster
Kabali
-
Radhika
Apte
has
made
her
mark,
despite
the
time
allotted
to
her
roles
in
the
script.
That's
how
powerful
actors
make
themselves
different
from
the
rest.
The
Radhika
Aptes
and
Nimrat
Kaurs
are
fortunate
to
have
been
born
in
an
era
when
the
meaning
of
women's
role
in
Bollywood
has
undergone
an
overall
change.
Even
the
mainstream
actresses
today
are
not
the
same
as
their
predecessors
used
to
be
20-30
years
ago.
Whether
it
is
Priyanka
Chopra,
Anushka
Sharma,
Deepika
Padukone
or
Kangana
Ranaut
-
women's
roles
in
films
have
been
liberalised
to
a
significant
extent
and
this
widening
of
the
horizon
has
done
the
not-so-mainstream
women
actors
a
world
of
good.
The
perception
about
women
actors
no
more
includes
the
candyfloss
factor
and
is
more
substantive.
This
makes
the
generation
of
Aptes
assertive.
Of
course,
the
multi-layered
film
industry
today
also
creates
fresh
challenges
for
the
actors
as
there
are
ample
chances
of
them
suffering
from
an
identity
crisis,
but
for
creative
artistes
like
Radhika
Apte,
no
challenge
is
bigger
than
the
art
itself.