Three weeks earlier, Captain Marvel introduced audiences in India to a new superheroine from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Last week, the world of Hindi cinema witnessed a similar phenomenon with the release of Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota. Consider this scene: an unassuming, pretty young girl, dressed in a little white dress and a brown jacket, slides across a car’s bonnet and beats up six men at one go, to save another girl in distress. This happens to be the introduction of the character Supri, a Kumite Karate champion, who sets the undertone for the rest of the narrative.
Though the movie positions the superhero Surya as the protagonist, Supri, in equal measure a superheroine, is no less than her counterpart. Incidentally, the film’s title, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, literally translates to ‘Man Who Feels No Pain’. And, Supri’s kicks and punches have certainly stirred the emotions of audiences watching her on the big screen. With Supri, it does seem like the new-age Bollywood superheroine has finally arrived.
But Radhika Madan, the actor who essays the dynamic, power-packed role, surprises us by saying, “I used to hate action films. I’d watch horror, romance, and all other genres — except action films. A fan of clichéd Bollywood films, Radhika confesses, “I can’t even count the number of times I’ve watched Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. Andaz Apna Apna and Jab We Met are my go-to films, and Bollywood cliché is in my blood!”
Small screen beginnings
The Delhi girl never really planned to make a career in films. Trained in jazz, ballet, contemporary and urban hip hop, Radhika always dreamt of learning tap dancing and becoming a Broadway artiste. "Acting happened by chance. Somebody saw my profile on Facebook and called me for an audition. I thought it was a scam because I used to watch a lot of Crime Patrol. So I went with hockey sticks and a group of friends, thinking I will bust the scamsters. When I went inside, an actual audition was going on. I was in an awkward position, but I still auditioned for the show,” recalls the actress, who debuted on TV with the show Meri Ashiqui Tum Se Hi.
The small screen wasn’t enough to contain Radhika’s dreams. After her first show and Jhalak Dikhla Jaa Reloaded, Radhika kept turning down offers and actively pursued auditions for films. “People used to say nobody from TV makes it to films, but I’d say Shah Rukh (Khan) and Sushant (Singh Rajput) have made it. I went to audition for Laila Majnu (released in 2018) and somehow ended up with Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota,” she recounts.
Packing a feisty punch
The film’s highlight is certainly the action. From somersaults, backflips and free sparring to mid-air punches and kicks, Radhika aces her role as a Kumite Karate Champ. While her four months of training before the film included a fair share of injuries and recoveries — the experiences came in handy for her, when she was pitched against all the brawny, hefty men in the film. She explains, “I used to train for five hours every day, and I’d watch one action film every night. I got a long list of films that included Kung Fu Hustle, Karate Kid and Raid 2. I also did weapon training, Jeet Kune Do (the Bruce Lee developed the expression of martial arts) and Mixed Martial Arts training. The only condition that Vasan Sir told me was, ‘I don’t want to see a girl trying to punch. You should punch and kick the guy. It shouldn’t look like a heroine is trying to kick. It should look like you know what you are doing’.”
It’s the panache with which she delivers the action scenes that truly sets Radhika in her own space. At the same time, as the only child of a troubled and sick mother and a drunk father, the character of Supri is trying to figure out a way to ensure that her parents get the best available treatment. The actor comfortably oscillates between the two conflicting ends of the character Supri’s emotional spectrum. With this release and Pataakha, Radhika proves that she’s more than just arm candy. “I didn’t want to be a prop, and I was just lucky to get roles that were character-driven. I had grown up watching Bollywood clichés, in which the heroine’s hair flies in the introductory scene. My hair flew in this film, but in a very different way — in an action scene. Likewise, in Pataakha, my opening scene shows me smoking a beedi. In both films, my introductions were totally different from the clichés,” she muses.
ayeshatabassum@newindianexpress.com
@aishatax