Radhika Apte is a well-recognized name today in Bollywood. Her performance in Varun Dhawan’s ‘Badlapur’ brought her in the limelight (and also her nude videos, which allegedly were morphed, that went viral). But apart from being a good actress, it seems, the actress is also a travel buff.
Radhika Apte’s India Tour
Radhika Apte recently did an extensive tour of the Himalayas. The actress hiked from Raibareli to Kausani, through the Valley of Flowers to Hemkund and then on to Badrinath, Mannar and Rishikesh. Apte had visited Joshimath and Badrinath earlier, as a child, with her family. The family had gone trekking in Kashmir, Himachal, and Uttaranchal together. She’s also remembers traveling Rajasthan extensively and remembers watching the solar eclipse in the deserts of Jaisalmer through makeshift glasses in the ’90s.
But Apte was unhappy to see the high levels of pollution in the religious shrines in the north. she was shocked to see plastic bottles lying everywhere, even on glaciers at 45,000 feet. Ashrams had turned into resorts.
And like most Indians who would readily agree on this point – “There were a lot more people and a lot less quieter.”
Apte’s foreign Encounters
As a teenager, Apte had visited Amsterdam and even visited the sex shops, attended live performances and even befriended a showgirl. Then, she was off to France via Luxembourg. Apte has been to Italy, Egypt (sold here jewelry to fund the travel), and also remembers reaching Budapest — after changing four trains — and then being unable to locate the address of the Hungarian director who wanted to cast her.
Earlier she did small acting assignments to fund her tours. Recalls the actress, “I did Shor In the City because I needed Rs 45,000 to go to Zanzibar for a theatre festival. They paid me Rs 60,000”.
Another trip to Colombo with Sri Lankan dancer friends changed the course of her life. Apte quit theatre, left Pune and moved to London to learn contemporary dance. In Edinburgh, she met a 92-year old who was conducting the Buena Vista Tour. From there, it was on to the Scottish isles where she met her husband ‘Benedict Taylor’, a British musician who has started composing for Bollywood now. He spent a year in South Africa shuttling from one farm to the next, working in the fields to afford a living. “Some day, may be I can do that too,” she smiles.
In the last couple of years, all her travelling has been for work, which is no fun according to Apte because the itinerary is planned. She feels she’s more of a traveler than a tourist.
Actress Radhika Apte Turns Travel Guide for Friends
And recently, Radhika Apte turned into a travel guide for a group of friends.
The actress who is an avid traveler and loves exploring new places had recently went back packing to the Himalayas. She also explored Europe and made a lot of friends during her trip there. Now, when her friends who’re located abroad wanted to travel to India, Radhika was more than happy to help them explore India.
So, she turned into a tour guide for them. She helped them by making a list of places to visit and things that they can do. Since the actress has travelled extensively in India, she is well versed with many places in India. Guess, her friends couldn’t have gotten a better guide to help them with their travel itinerary than Radhika Apte!
