In 2015, on the heels of Badlapur, Hunterrr, and Manjhi The Mountain Man, HuffPost India framed her ascent with a single headline: 'Radhika Apte is on her way to stardom, whether she likes it or not.'
A decade and dozens of acclaimed titles later, Apte makes it clear: she detests every single part of it.
"I do not like fame. I do not like being recognised," Apte tells THR India. "I don't like anything less than being recognised on the street and people coming after me and wanting photographs. I never give photographs. I never give selfies. Not once. Unless you're an immigration officer," the actor, who is based out of London, laughs.
That unyielding boundary puts her at odds with industry norms, creating friction with her own team.
"My agents go like, 'Are you delusional? Because you're an actor.' But you'll never see me dressed up going to the airport. You'll never see me wearing makeup and doing anything. You'll never see me with any entourage anywhere. That's because I don't like any of it. And I refuse to be a part of it."
Living between London and India, for Apte, means navigating vastly different social landscapes, but the mechanics of constant public scrutiny follow her across borders. The pressure intensifies when she is accompanied by her family, turning ordinary outings into an exercise in hyper-vigilance.
"We are a country of so many amazing things and culture, but we also have a culture of staring at other people," she explains. "And I'm so often out with my daughter. In London, there are so many Indians now. So everywhere I go, people are staring at me, following me, people coming home, standing outside my house. I cannot bear it."
Even public transport, her preferred mode of transit, has become an exercise in evasion. For Apte, the core discomfort lies in a deeply ingrained social habit of intrusion that disregards personal space.
"I take public transport to go everywhere because it's the easiest and best way to travel in London. But I have to change my carriage about five times, because somebody's staring at me, then they come and sit in front of me and stare. I hate it. I don't understand the obsession. I hate fame. I'm not cut out for it. It is maddening."
The absurdity peaks in quiet, everyday spaces where public obsession dominates. The actor recalled how she once tried to stop a stranger from feeding white bread to ducks in a park but the moment the lady figured who she was, all she could do was request for a selfie.
"She was talking to me as if I don't exist. What I'm saying didn't matter. And I actually went home and cried. I was speaking to this woman, and all she could think of was, 'Oh, you're an actor, can I take a selfie? Which angle will look good?' I find that quite upsetting."
That absolute boundary, she stresses, is never about arrogance or dismissing the people who watch her work.
"This is not me being ungrateful. Please understand. I'm genuinely not ungrateful," Apte insists. "But actors deserve privacy. You're so used to watching somebody on screen, you think you know them, but you don't. And we're human beings. If you're with your small child, do you want people staring at you? Of course you don't. Come on, basic courtesy."
The ongoing struggle to maintain boundaries takes a genuine physical and psychological toll, forcing her to actively manage her immediate reactions.
"I'm almost angry," she admits.
"My husband actually tells me that if you artificially try to smile, maybe the muscles will help your brain inform your brain to not get so angry. So I'm really trying. But it's not anger—it really upsets me, because I love my privacy."
That frustration isn't driven by elitism, she clarifies again, but by a fundamental discomfort with the loss of basic human boundaries.
"I do have some people who come and say, 'I'm sorry to disturb you. I just want to tell you that I'm a big fan.' I do appreciate that. But you have something half in your mouth, chewing, and somebody comes and says hi. What am I supposed to do? Or you meet your friend for coffee and 15 times you get disturbed."
When navigating public spaces alongside industry peers who embrace the traditional publicity machinery, the contrast becomes stark.
"That's why when I go with my actor friends, it's even worse. Because I say no, and they get up to give pictures. I'll be like, I'm the bitch!" she laughs.
Apte’s new series, Akka, co-starring Keerthy Suresh and written and directed by Dharmaraj Shetty, will premiere on Netflix on October 30.