In her 17-year-long career in the film industry, Radhika Apte has been selective about signing projects. The actor says she only takes on roles that give her creative satisfaction. And now, besides acting, Apte is also looking at avenues such as writing and directing projects to create a parallel career option.

“In the last two years, I have said no to a lot of projects because I am trying to make my own stuff. I am putting my heart and soul into it and giving it the time it requires. It is not an overnight process, nor am I employing writers to write scripts for me. I am having the best time learning to write a script,” shares the actor.

The 37-year-old, last seen in the film Monica, O My Darling (2022), says she’s been wanting to direct a film for a while, but couldn’t make time for it due to her acting commitments. “I am hoping to make something of my own in the next two years. I wanted to do this (make a film) before Covid-19 too, but I was busy with my acting assignments. It’s really scary to say no to projects,” says the Forensic (2022) actor, who currently has three acting projects in the pipeline: “I have a British film, one Indo-US production and an Indian production.”

Apte admits that since acting is a freelance job, artistes are bound to feel insecure at times. “Everyone has their moments of insecurity. I feel I should have found an alternate career. I have had this feeling for the last 10 years. When you see big actors who earned so much on the first day of their films’ release... can you imagine the amount of insecurity we must be going through? Whether big or small, it (Bollywood) is a freelance industry. Which is why someone once told me to try and do something creative on the side constantly,” the actor ends.