Latest news with #Apte
NDTV
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Witch, Warrior, Woman: Radhika Apte Is Done Playing Nice
Radhika Apte is a phenomenon - an actor whose range, though often confined to the thematic corridors of thriller and horror, quietly defies the limitations imposed by the very industry that should champion her. Producers, in their calculative pursuit of replicable success, frequently funnel actors into familiar moulds, favoring the comfort of formulaic performances over the untamed potential of artistic exploration. It is a restriction not merely of roles but of artistic agency - an invisible cage that confines Radhika's desire to be as much a storyteller as an actor. 'I'm Tired Of Acting' Apte discovered her flair for writing and directed a revered short film starring Gulshan Devaiah and Shahana Goswami called The Sleepwalkers (2020). An interview with The Indian Express, in which she confesse, 'I'm tired of acting because you don't necessarily get the kind of work you want', reveals a quiet artistic weariness. Her decision to be 'a little choosy' with her projects stands as a delicate assertion of self amid an industry rife with compromise. Within the tension between this imposed limitation and her intrinsic versatility, though, lies her stellar cinematic journey. It is an eloquent paradox: Radhika's work, often celebrated for its layered gravitas, simultaneously reflects a silence about what else could she be. Though undeniably fluent in a wide spectrum of genres, Apte possesses an uncanny command over horror. Her haunting gravitation toward roles that blur the boundary between the supernatural and the psychologically unhinged is unmistakable. Sister Midnight (2024), which is her most recent BAFTA nominated exploration, Phobia (2016), and even an eerie short film like Ahalya (2015) come to mind when one first thinks about this premise. But there are many more commendable, less-talked-about performances that deserve applause. A Woman, In Full At the centre of each performance is a woman on the cusp of reality - shaped by trauma, repression, or forces that defy explanation. Apte, with her instinctive intelligence and intuitive restraint, becomes a vessel for the spectral and the unstable, consistently embodying women who are either haunted or labelled mad - often both. This raises a broader inquiry into how Indian cinema chooses to render female rage, hysteria, and resistance: frequently through horror, myth, and psychological dissolution. Films like Stree (2018), Bulbbul (2020), and Pari (2018) suggest that a woman must either go mad or transcend nature to be heard. And what truly liberates them from having to suppress that madness at all? Despite her acclaimed performances in Shor In The City (2010), Lust Stories (2018), and Andhadhun (2018), my very first encounter with Radhika Apte's spellbinding presence was, quite fittingly during film school, through Sujoy Ghosh's mythological short Ahalya (2015). Apte's performance brilliantly subverts the familiar tale from the Ramayana. Traditionally, Ahalya is deceived by Indra, who disguises himself as her husband and is subsequently punished by Maharshi Gautama for infidelity. Apte's Ahalya is presented almost as a honeytrap - enigmatic, watchful, and in control. Though, the story's modern lens, entwined with mythology, supernatural forces and magical realism grants her character autonomy. Here, Ahalya is not merely a cautionary tale but a quiet force, one who turns the gaze back on the men, making them suffer the consequences of their own unchecked desire. As for Karan Kandhari's Sister Midnight (2024), it is luminous in parts that allow Apte to embrace the unhinged, unregulated and undeterred sense of what it means to surpass being an individual confined in societal boxes of decency and compliance. Though, it is surely a film that feels like a cinephile made it, due to its extremely self-indulgent nature. Sister Midnight isn't really interested in telling a story but rather in consolidating an experience, sort of like an extended metaphor for its entire run time. It doesn't want to explain but reveal Apte as a visceral entity. Similarly, in Shirish Kunder's Kriti (2016), Apte plays Kalpana, Sapan's (Manoj Bajpayee) psychiatrist - though that is a truth only halfway learnt. She is carefully concerned with his girlfriend Kriti's agoraphobia, discussing it with an eerie professional calm. At first, it is presumed she is on Sapan's side, shepherding him through the fog of his inner labyrinth, guiding him toward recovery. But she is the fog. The film's illusion relies on our trust in her rationality, only to unravel it as the real distortion. ' Sapan ', meaning dream, and ' Kalpana ', meaning imaginary - two impossibilities trying to out-invent each other. Together, through a darkly twisted ballet, they eliminate any external force attempting to rupture the fantasy. Rather than Sapan being the creator of Kalpana, Kriti posits her as the orchestrator of his descent. In Pavan Kirpalani's Phobia (2016), Apte herself plays a patient of agoraphobia as Mehek who suffers abuse at the hands of a taxi driver late at night. Sifting empathetically through the unruly terrain of a mental illness, Phobia attempts to humanise anxiety and fear as indicators of the inner subconscious, often serving as a mirror to a lived reality that others cannot perceive. Through various men attempting to eavesdrop and make a move on her, she emerges as a survivor - someone who makes it out by repeatedly reclaiming control over her life, guided by an instinctive and almost premonitional clarity. A Woman Done With Definitions Anurag Kashyap's Clean Shaven is not of the horror or thriller genre, yet one can classify it as a psychological examination of a repressed woman and of how women rarely have control over decisions about their bodies, whether aesthetically, sexually or biologically. Apte plays Archana, a housewife and mother entrenched in an unequal and conservative marriage. Her friendship with the younger Allwyn (Adarsh Gourav), hormonally charged yet emotionally shallow, becomes a mirror of her own stifled desire. He is digitally literate in lust but naïve in empathy, while she, bound by years of suppression, dares to disturb the script written for her. Apte embodies a woman done with men defining her body - whether through a hypersexualised lens, like how Allwyn sees women, or a quietly controlling one like her husband's. Kashyap films her in a space that doubles as a metaphor: a birdcage balcony framing Archana as a golden bird, only to be admired from afar, but never free. She's trapped in her house as she was in Phobia, but here, the imprisonment is of the mind born out of very real societal dangers. And to get out of her house is to escape the dangerous man who wants otherwise. In Kashyap's That Day After Everyday (2013), too, simply stepping out of the building to go to work is a battleground. Men lurk in packs, entitlement stitched into their shadows, while families - mirrors of the same rot - deflect blame onto the women themselves. Yet again, Apte resists, satisfyingly beating them up once and for all. The terror that confines her becomes the very thing she learns to navigate or even weaponise. The Meaning Of Nationalism In Netflix's mini-series Ghoul (2018), Apte's Nida begins as a devout lieutenant officer, disillusioned by the belief that turning in her father for housing subversive literature and 'anti-national' thoughts is an act of national loyalty. What unfolds is a disintegration of that borrowed conviction. Nida comes face to face with the institution's underbelly - and something darker still. The ghoul is a supernatural creature summoned by Nida's father, not out of vengeance but resistance. In this grim theatre of nationalism gone rogue, the ghoul becomes a proxy for justice when no other form is possible. When the officers imprison Nida, branding her a terrorist's daughter who turned out just like him, the insult becomes inheritance. The very monster they tried to contain now possesses her - part inheritance, part choice. It is less a haunting and more a reclamation. She becomes what the system fears the most: conscience with consequence. In Apte's hands, this transformation is neither heroic nor tragic, but inevitable. In most of her works, Apte seems to be sometimes intermingling with and sometimes running away from the psychologically disturbing or the supernatural. But in Sister Midnight, she allows herself to be wholly consumed by the madness of being forced to fit in - whether through type-casted roles in a film or a person inhabiting societal constraints. The film becomes a mirror to the inner disjointedness one feels living in Mumbai, where chaos is both external and internal, and where the self fractures not from ghosts, but from the pressure of cohesion. Claiming Her Story After so many of these roles, perhaps Apte can begin to reclaim her narrative. Not by resisting what has been, but by shaping what will be. She's arrived at a moment where she can act in the kind of projects she truly wants to and write in whichever genre she pleases. Per a recent report, Apte is all set to make her much-anticipated action-fantasy directorial debut with Koyta, which will be produced by Vikramaditya Motwane. While progress brings more women on sets, the industry remains unaccommodating for them. Apte highlights the tension between evolving representation and systemic barriers, underscoring a quiet insistence to reshape storytelling spaces where women's voices can emerge fully, unapologetically, and on their own terms. (The author is a documentary filmmaker and an entertainment writer based in Mumbai.)
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Manipal and Fortis to raise funds to bid for Sahyadri Hospitals
Indian companies Manipal Health Enterprises and Fortis Healthcare are in discussions with international financial institutions to secure financing to support their acquisition efforts, as the bidding deadline of 22 June for the multispeciality hospital chain Sahyadri Hospitals approaches. The lenders include DBS Group Holdings, Mizuho Bank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Holdings, and Barclays, people with knowledge of the matter said. The financing, which aims to back respective bids of the two companies, ranges from Rs30bn to Rs50bn ($347.61m to $579.35m). Aster DM Healthcare, another contender in the bidding process, has not yet finalised its financing plans, according to sources. The sale of Sahyadri Hospitals is being orchestrated by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP), which holds a 98.9% stake in the hospital chain. OTPP, with more than $3bn in investments, appointed Jefferies to manage the sale earlier this year. The Canadian pension fund had acquired Sahyadri Hospitals at a valuation of Rs25bn from Everstone Capital, which had previously purchased the chain from its founder, Dr Charudutt Apte, in 2019 for Rs10bn. Sahyadri Hospitals, founded in 1996 by neurosurgeon Dr Apte, operates 11 hospitals with 1,300 operational beds across Pune, Nashik, and Karad in the state of Maharashtra. The healthcare provider is part of several government health schemes, including Ayushman Bharat and the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS). This acquisition comes at a time when India's hospital sector is undergoing consolidation. In February, Fortis Healthcare signed definitive agreements to acquire Shrimann Superspecialty Hospital in Jalandhar, Punjab, India. The acquisition, from partnership company inter alia Shriman Enterprises through a slump sale, is part of Fortis' strategy to expand its network in the region. "Manipal and Fortis to raise funds to bid for Sahyadri Hospitals" was originally created and published by Hospital Management, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. 擷取數據時發生錯誤 登入存取你的投資組合 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤
Time of India
15-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Manipal, Fortis in talks to raise Rs 5,000 cr for Sahyadri Hospitals bid
With the bidding deadline for Sahyadri Hospitals approaching on June 22, interested bidders including Manipal Health Enterprises and Fortis Healthcare are engaging with foreign lenders to raise financing of up to Rs 5,000 crore, people familiar with the matter said. The funds will be used to back their respective bids for the multispecialty hospital chain. The two hospital operators are in discussions with banks including DBS Group Holdings , Deutsche Bank AG, Mizuho Bank, HSBC Holdings and Barclays, the people said, asking not to be named. Aster DM Healthcare , another potential bidder, is yet to firm up financing discussions, the people said. "Fortis and Manipal are in talks with global banks to raise anywhere between Rs 3,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore to fund the acquisition of Sahyadri Hospitals," one of the people quoted above said. Spokespersons of Manipal, Fortis, DBS, HSBC, Barclays, DB and Mizuho did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP), which owns a 98.9% stake in Sahyadri Hospitals, is selling the asset less than three years after acquiring control. Sahyadri was Ontario Teachers' first control private equity buyout in India. The Canadian pension fund, which has more than $3 billion invested in India, hired Jefferies earlier this year to run the sale process. ET had reported on December 6, 2024 that OTPP will launch a process to sell Sahyadri Hospitals. OTPP had acquired the company from Everstone Capital at a Rs 2,500 crore valuation, which had earlier bought the chain from founder Dr Charudutt Apte in 2019 for Rs 1,000 crore. OTPP is a global investor with net assets of $266.3 billion as on December 31, 2024. Sahyadri operates 11 hospitals with 1,300 operational beds across Pune, Nashik and Karad in Maharashtra. Its facilities cover specialties, including cardiology, transplants, neurology and critical care. It has over 2,500 clinicians and 3,500 supporting staff. The company is empanelled under several government health schemes, including Ayushman Bharat and CGHS. It was founded in 1996 by Dr Apte, a neurosurgeon. The bidding for Sahyadri comes amid consolidation in India's hospital sector. Late last year, Blackstone and TPG-backed Quality Care India announced a merger with listed Aster DM to form India's third-largest hospital chain with over 10,000 beds. "Post the Covid pandemic, the Indian hospital segment has been in investors' limelight due to a surge in primary market transactions with six hospitals concluding their IPOs, rising interest from new investors, predominantly private equity, for ownership, record FDI inflow into hospitals in FY24 at $1.53 billion, which is 50% of the overall investment in healthcare vs the 27% cumulative share since FY12 and aggressive bed expansion plans of listed hospitals," Tausif Shaikh, India analyst-pharma and healthcare at BNP Paribas India, said in a report released last year.
GMA Network
07-06-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
Vena Group forms AI-ready data center development unit
Vena Global Group Pte Ltd or Vena Group has announced the launch of Vena Nexus Group Pte Ltd. —its wholly owned subsidiary dedicated to the development of AI-ready data center infrastructure (AI-DC). In a news release, Vena Group said it has transferred all related activities, personnel, and development pipeline for AI-DC solutions from Vena Energy, its renewable energy arm, to Vena Nexus. The company said the move reflects its goal to deliver hyperscale-grade data center campuses deeply integrated with large-scale renewable power projects, as well as distributed edge facilities co-located with its renewable energy sites. 'With traditional workloads continuing to grow and AI demand for power-secure infrastructure accelerating across APAC, Vena Nexus represents the natural extension of our platform into high-performance, AI-ready digital infrastructure,' said Nitin Apte, CEO of Vena Group. 'The establishment of Vena Nexus enables sharper execution, focused capital deployment, and dedicated partnerships, while maintaining strong integration with Vena Energy as the power enabler behind our digital growth,' said Apte. Vena Nexus inherits a pipeline of approximately 3 GW (gigawatts) of data center developments originally initiated within Vena Energy, including over 1 GW of AI-DC projects with secured power, land, and permits. Vena Nexus, it said, is backed by a team of 60 specialists across data center development, digital infrastructure, commercial strategy, and investment. The new unit also leverages Vena Group's broader corporate platform, comprising nearly 700 professionals in development, construction, and operations, and more than 300 specialists in legal, finance, ESG, procurement, and other corporate functions. Vena Group's current footprint includes Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines, with ongoing expansion into Thailand, South Korea, Australia, and other existing Vena Group markets across the Asia Pacific region. —VAL, GMA Integrated News
Time of India
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Radhika Apte expresses challenges for new mothers in film industry: 'I don't know how I am going to navigate it'
Radhika Apte , who announced her pregnancy last year at the BAFTA Awards, now opened up about the difficulties new mothers face in the demanding film industry. Her British film, Karan Kandhari's black comedy Sister Midnight, which premiered at Cannes last May, is now releasing in India, and Apte's daughter is six months old. Short maternity leave and Industry realities Radhika had a remarkably short "maternity leave," returning to work just a week after her daughter's birth. Last December, she even shared a picture of herself attending a virtual work meeting while breastfeeding, highlighting her immediate return to professional life. While virtually speaking to SCREEN from London, Apte candidly addressed whether the film industry is supportive of new mothers. "I don't think they are. I don't know how I'm going to navigate that going ahead," she confessed. Her statement comes amid a broader discussion within the industry, with reports suggesting actors like Deepika Padukone potentially walking out of films over concerns like requesting eight-hour shifts post-pregnancy. While actor-producer Ajay Devgn recently defended the industry, claiming shorter shifts are now common for everyone, Apte emphasized the unique challenges for new mothers. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Най-продаваните ежедневни обувки това лято – виж защо! ZAROTRAVEL® КУПИ СЕГА Undo "It's really difficult to work in our film industry, given the number of hours and how we film generally, and the time for which we don't get to see the child. So I guess I'll just have to figure it out now," she explained. This challenge is compounded by Apte's long-standing practice of dividing her time between India and London. A shifting focus from acting to screenwriting Even before embracing motherhood, Radhika found herself dissatisfied with the acting roles coming her way, which led her to explore screenwriting. She previously directed the short film The Sleepwalkers, starring Gulshan Devaiah and Shahana Goswami, available on MUBI. "I'm tired of acting because you don't necessarily get the kind of work you want. I'm tired of doing the same thing or doing things just for the sake of it," she admitted, explaining her decision to be more selective. Apte revealed that writing began out of this frustration, allowing her to explore subjects that weren't offered to her as an actor. She unexpectedly found joy in the process, inspiring her to delve deeper into it. On the acting front, Radhika will next be seen in Dharmaraj Shetty's revenge thriller show Akka on Netflix India and Justin Lin's American film Last Days, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year. Embracing character transformation beyond stereotypes Discussing her role as Uma in Sister Midnight, Apte highlighted her fascination with the character, a "small-town misfit who became an accidental outlaw." Uma enters an arranged marriage and undergoes a bizarre, supernatural transformation. When asked if it was fun to break out of the "demure homemaker mould" often seen in roles like her character in Pad Man, Apte clarified her artistic approach. "There's nothing wrong with playing a demure homemaker. It was never my intention to play a badass. It's about the character, the arc, and the story you're trying to tell," she stated. She emphasized the relatability of Uma's journey: "The emotional transformation is the acceptance of who she is. She discovers herself after becoming an outlaw. That self-discovery is very relatable. It's not about womanhood. It's applicable to any individual who finds discomfort in adjusting to a structure or a society.' Check out our list of the latest Hindi , English , Tamil , Telugu , Malayalam , and Kannada movies . Don't miss our picks for the best Hindi movies , best Tamil movies, and best Telugu films .
