motivation. ‘Throw a stone and create ripples’

Radikaa Sarathkumar is a well-known name in Tamil Nadu. Famous for her role in the much-loved series Chithi , she is a woman many look up to.

Not only is she an actress, she is also a businesswoman. And while her production house, Radaan Mediaworks, has done well, managing a company didn’t come to her naturally. Radikaa was speaking at the MMA Women Managers Convention on the topic ‘Mindset Matters’ recently.

Highlighting the fact that life as an actress is quite hard, she said: “Everyone had this preconceived notion that women, especially actresses, have no substance or a mind of their own.” And nowhere was this more apparent than when she approached banks to take a loan to start her production house. While they would be polite and praise her acting, when she brought up the topic of borrowing money, they would baulk and wish her well for her venture.

“It was a nightmare, trying to convince them that I was serious about the media company.”

She then went into private borrowing, and once finance was taken care of, Chithi took off. “Once you’ve attained what you want, you cannot sit back and say, ‘I've made it’. The real challenge is not in breaking the ground or in being successful. It is in continuing to be that,” she said. As she continued to run her business, she realised it is exclusively about time management and, of course, the mind-set.

She had suffered a big setback when a movie she produced, which was ready to be released, was leaked online.

“I was at a party with my husband on December 31 when he told me this happened. Investment worth ₹14 crore just went up in smoke.”

But did she sit and mope? “If there’s one thing I’ve learnt in life, it is that tomorrow is another day, which I will face. The next day, I sat down and saw how the losses could be cut, how we can rectify it. Learning all this took time.”

Being a woman

She pointed out that being a woman means there will be certain preconceived notions. As an actress, she is constantly asked indirectly if she would continue to act.

“Despite being in the profession for so many years, even today journalists ask me, ‘You’ve acted so well in this film. After this, you can’t do any other role, no?’ Changing it all is not easy.”

“But I want all the women here to remember to be strong and believe in yourself. Don’t let anyone take that away from you. We cannot change the world, like Mother Teresa said. But we can throw a stone and create ripples,” she concluded, receiving a standing ovation at the end of her talk.

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