Radha Bartake
- Actress
Radhika Bartake, sometimes called Radha or Kasturi, was born in Goa,
India. She entered beauty contests as a teenager and was crowned "Miss
Goa" in 1973-74 and "Miss Teen Princess World" at Caracuss in Venezuela
in December 1974. She won the latter title when one of the jury members
was trying to belittle India. Radhika's patriotic reply of "As far as
depth and intensity of religion and culture is concerned we beat any
country in the world" made her the winner. Prabhakar Pendharkar
introduced her in the Marathi film 'Preet Tujhi Mhaji'. However, it was
a family friend B. Sharma who recommended her to producer Sawan Kumar
Tak, who cast her in the Hindi film 'Saajan Bina Suhagan' (1978), which
became a big hit. She was immediately noticed as Vinod Mehra's heroine,
and the formidable cast included Nutan as her mother, Rajendra Kumar as
her neighbor, and Padmini Kolhapure as her sister. Radhika went on to
act in more films such as 'Aao Pyar Karen' opposite Benjamin Gilani,
the multi-starrer 'Pukar' with Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, Tina
Munim, which was based on Goa's freedom struggle and was entirely shot
in Goa in March 1983, 'Daasi' opposite Sanjeev Kumar, Rekha and
Moushumi Chatterjee where she made a guest appearance. She also did a
documentary film on the life of the legendary Durga Khote. She was also
a successful model. She walked out of a prestigious heroine-oriented
film "Oh Bewafa" (1980), based on Sidney Sheldon's novel "The Other
Side of Midnight," and was produced by her mentor Sawan Kumar Tak, who
had given her breakthrough role in "Saajan Bina Suhagan." Her role
eventually went to Yogita Bali. Radhika settled for domestic bliss and
married her childhood family friend, the handsome Punjabi Capt. R. K.
Malik from the defence force in 1986. She has two sons Sankalp and
JaisinhToday her fascination for sea shells and pets has become her
favorite occupation. She runs a workshop with her husband in her home
creating beautiful objects, souvenirs, and murals from sea-shells and
terracotta. Her creations can be viewed at the Taj chain of hotels, Goa
handicrafts, Radisson, and other places. Radhika loves animals, and she
has four dogs, a billy goat, a duck, and four cats. She lives in the
Defence Colony, Porvorim in Goa.