Actor Radhika Apte has never shied away from uncomfortable conversations, and her latest remarks on love, control, and toxic storytelling in cinema are no exception. Fresh off her performance in Saali Mohabbat, the actor has spoken candidly about the dangers of romanticising obsession, emotional abuse, and power dynamics in films—particularly in mainstream Indian cinema.
In Saali Mohabbat, Radhika plays a woman who commits an extreme act after discovering her husband’s infidelity. However, the actor is clear that her character’s actions should not be misread as an expression of intense or passionate love. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Radhika explained that the breaking point depicted in the film stems from prolonged injustice rather than emotional obsession.
“That’s the problem,” she said. “I don’t think what happens in the film comes from passionate love. It comes from accumulated, acute injustice and repeated mistreatment. I don’t like to glorify that as love for a partner or anyone else.”
Radhika further criticised the cultural tendency to label suffering and self-sacrifice as devotion. According to her, repeatedly compromising one’s happiness to please another person cannot and should not be defined as love. “In our culture, these acts are mistaken as love. But it’s not love when you have to constantly compromise your happiness,” she stated firmly.
Calling out long-standing cinematic tropes, the actor took aim at narratives that frame obedience and submission—especially by women—as respect, romance, or virtue. “Whether it’s your husband, his family, or even your parents, blindly listening and doing whatever they want is not love,” she said. “If someone expects you to compromise your happiness for them, that’s not love. Obedience is not love—it’s power and control. And I’m sick of it being called love or respect.”
Radhika didn’t hold back while addressing the broader impact of such portrayals on society. She described the glorification of obsession and control as “awful and horrible,” adding that filmmakers must take responsibility for the stories they tell. “We should stop making these films. We are portraying controlled power as passion, and that’s a huge mistake,” she said.
Saali Mohabbat is a drama-thriller set in a small town, centring on a housewife whose quiet life spirals after two sudden deaths change everything. Rather than romanticising trauma, the film focuses on emotional silence, suppressed anger, and psychological fallout.
The film stars Radhika Apte alongside Sauraseni Maitra, Divyendu Sharma, Anshumaan Pushkar, and Anurag Kashyap, and is produced by Jyoti Deshpande, Dinesh Malhotra, Vipin Agnihotri, and Manish Malhotra.