Radha Bartake (Kasturi)

QAMYAB – THE FORGOTTEN GEMS OF BOLLYWOOD

Qamyab is our humble tribute to all those lesser-known actors, one hit wonders and junior artists who we see umpteen times but don’t know about; beyond their faces. These actors have been an integral part of Bollywood but didn’t get their due. This series is our sincere attempt to put a name to these faces, familiarize them to our readers and celebrate their achievements in life – however big or small. We believe that every artist contributes in his/her own way to the cinema’s success. Qamyab will explore the unknown lives of such actors and artists as we believe even these forgotten gems of Bollywood deserve their due recognition today.

In the mid ’90s, we had two beauty queens Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai entering Bollywood as actors after gaining global recognition as Miss Universe and Miss World, respectively. Later, Priyanka Chopra, Yukta Mookhey and Lara Dutta followed suit. But much before these ladies, a beauty queen from Goa who had attained international recognition, entered Bollywood as an actor. This Goan beauty, featuring as our forgotten gem for today, is none other than Radha Bartake.

Born in 1959 in Panaji, Goa, Radha or Radhika Bartake got fame at young age of just fourteen years when she won the Miss Goa title in 1973. She immediately participated in the prestigious Femina Miss India contest in 1974, where she stood second as final runner-up. She was crowned Femina Teen Princess India in the same event and went on to represent India at the International Teen Princess contest held in Venezuela.

On 27th July, 1974, Radha became the first Indian to win the International Teen Princess crown and brought pride and fame to our country. After competing her term as International Teen Princess, she returned to India and was flooded with advertising and modelling assignments. Movie offers also weren’t far behind and Radha was introduced by Prabhakar Pendharkar in the Marathi movie Preet Tujhi Majhi in 1975. She also appeared in the Konkani film Bhuierantlo Munis (1977), which was incidentally the first Konkani film made in colour.

Radha Bartake was often named Radhika or Kasturi in various films. Actually, it was her mentor Saawan Kumar Tak, who gave her the name Kasturi.

It was in 1977 that family friend B. Sharma introduced Radha to noted filmmaker Saawan Kumar, who cast her in his film Saajan Bina Suhagan (1978) as Vinod Mehra’s girlfriend. The film became a box office hit and Radha (renamed Kasturi in this movie) garnered good reviews for her performance.

It was rumoured that time that Radha had grown close to Saawan Kumar during the making of Saajan Bina Suhagan and they were said to be in a live-in relationship, though both denied this later.

Saawan Kumar had bound Radha under a contract due to which she couldn’t sign outside banners immediately. He wanted to repeat Radha in his next Oh Bewafa (1980) but Radha refused the film for undisclosed reason and they never worked together again. The role went to Yogita Bali.

Radha’s next release was Aao Pyar Karen (1983) opposite newcomer Benjamin Gillani in which she was the lead heroine and appeared in a bold avatar including a two-piece bikini. The film wasn’t promoted properly and went unnoticed at the box office.

In 1983, Radha appeared in her last mainstream release- the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Pukar – in which she had a small role of Satyen Kapoo’s daughter.

Interestingly, Pukar dealt with the subject of Goan liberation and was shot in Radha’s hometown. Her character is shown as a staunch Goan freedom fighter, who in one scene, sacrifices her honour to help Randhir Kapoor escape from the Portuguese cops. Pukar was a semi-hit at the box office and remains Radha’s last Bollywood success.

In her short career of eight years, Radha Bartake appeared in just three Bollywood films out of which two were box office hits. She did many TV commercials and also appeared in a documentary film on the life of legendary actress Durga Khote. She also had a blink and miss appearance (billed as guest) in the Sanjeev Kumar – Rekha – Maushmi starrer Daasi (1981) but most Bollywood buffs won’t even recollect her in that movie.

Radha quit the film industry after Pukar and chose to settle down in marital bliss. She married her childhood family friend Capt. R.K. Mallik in 1986. They have two sons named Sankalp and Jaisinh. Radha lives in Goa and has made her fascination for sea shells in to her full-time profession. She runs a workshop in her home creating various souvenirs and murals from sea shells and her creations can be viewed at the prestigious Taj chain of hotels. From a beauty queen to a movie actor to an artefacts’ designer, Radha has indeed come a long way and kept her creativity intact!!