Radhika Apte On 'Sister Midnight,' Creative Unlearning, And Motherhood In The Industry

When Radhika Apte first stepped into the world of acting, she approached her craft with a keen intellectual eye, meticulously crafting each character. But in recent years, she’s discovered that sometimes, the most profound performances come when you let go of control. In an engaging chat with ELLE India, Radhika shares how she’s embracing instinct over intellect, diving headfirst into the raw unpredictability of her roles. As she navigates the ever-evolving landscape of cinema and gears up for her newest release Sister Midnight, she also reveals how her journey as a mother has brought new perspective to both her art and the industry—one that’s still far from built for the balance that she now seeks.

Read our conversation below.

ELLE India: What's one trait that’s quite similar to who you are in real life, and one that’s completely different, from your new film 'Sister Midnight?'

Radhika Apte (RA): Similar would be that Uma doesn’t really do things that don’t make sense to her. She doesn’t just blindly follow instructions—and I think I’m a bit like that. Sometimes it can be a problem, but yes, I do relate to her in that way. As for what’s different... oh gosh. There’s a big dissimilarity, but if I told you, I’d be giving away too much of the plot! You’ll understand when you watch the film why I’m not like Uma.

ELLE India: Fair enough. What would you like Indian audiences to take away from Sister Midnight—without giving away too much, of course?

RA: It’s a very crazy film. A wild ride. It’s strange and unlike anything I’ve done before.

We did a three-week workshop where the director, Karan Kandhari, really pushed to de-intellectualise the process. He wanted everything to come from the body, not the brain—very visceral, very instinctive. I had to unlearn a lot.

ELLE India: What was your experience like, shooting for it?

RA: I had a great time. We shot on film, which I love. Usually, I work quite intellectually—I’ll map out a character’s backstory, personality, body language... the whole thing. But this was different. We did a three-week workshop where the director, Karan Kandhari, really pushed to de-intellectualise the process. He wanted everything to come from the body, not the brain—very visceral, very instinctive. I had to unlearn a lot. Honestly, the first couple of days, I was completely thrown off. I thought I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. I was like, “Shit, I don’t know what I’m doing.” But then, once I got into the rhythm and stopped overthinking, it became really enjoyable. The film’s a dark comedy, so the character does some bizarre things. But you still empathise with her—there’s a purity, a childlike innocence, even in the chaos. Once the intellect was out of the way, it all felt lighter. She’s quite feral, almost animalistic, and that quality came through in a very organic way.

 

I think the real shift is that more women are writing, and that’s making a big difference. You can sense it in the scripts—you start to feel that authenticity. That said, I’m not implying men can’t write women; many have done so beautifully. But we also need to hear women tell their own stories, in their own voices. 

ELLE India: That sounds incredibly immersive. How do you think storytelling has evolved, especially when it comes to female characters—say, from when you started out to now?

RA: I won’t include Sister Midnight in this conversation, because it’s quite a unique film. And while people have called it feminist—which it is—it also feels quite genderless. Karan treats all his characters equally. It’s not “this is a woman’s story” in that way; the gender could be anything. But yes, in India generally, there are definitely better roles for women now. Compared to the commercial cinema we grew up with—where you now watch it and cringe—things have improved. But we still have a long way to go. I think the real shift is that more women are writing, and that’s making a big difference. You can sense it in the scripts—you start to feel that authenticity. That said, I’m not implying men can’t write women; many have done so beautifully. But we also need to hear women tell their own stories, in their own voices. Also, being a mother now, I’ve become even more aware. Yes, we’ve got more women on sets, and many heads of department are women—but we’re not at 50% yet. And when you have a child, it hits you: this industry isn’t really built for mothers. The hours, the structure—none of it is conducive.

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I’m about to sign two projects and I’m honestly struggling with the logistics. A standard day means 12–13 hours on set, plus an hour of travel each way—and that means I won’t see my daughter at all. It’s daunting. The way we work just isn’t very mother-friendly.

ELLE India: That actually brings me to my next question. How has becoming a mother impacted your creative perspective?

RA: I’m too new at this to say how my broader creative perspective has changed, but my immediate concerns are very real. I’m about to sign two projects and I’m honestly struggling with the logistics. A standard day means 12–13 hours on set, plus an hour of travel each way—and that means I won’t see my daughter at all. It’s daunting. The way we work just isn’t very mother-friendly. So now I’m trying to figure out how to make it work. That’s the space I’m in at the moment.

ELLE India: And finally—what’s something you absolutely don’t enjoy on set?

RA: People coming late. And wasting time. And no lunch breaks! Nobody ever finishes on time, no one starts on time—it drives me mad. There’s just so much wasted time on sets.

Sister Midnight is set to hit theatres on May 30.