Bharathiraja remembers his film heroine Radhika fondly

August is a special month for Radhika Sarathkumar as she has her birthday and had her debut film released in the same month. As Radhika turns 58 in the next week or so, she received a special compliment from Bharathiraja, an iconic director of south Indian cinema under whose tutelage she made a bow 42 years ago. The film was the massive hit ' Kizhakke Pogum Rail' released in 1978, which was subsequently made into Telugu and Hindi too.

Reminiscing his 16-year-old heroine's initial days in Tamil cinema, the famed helmsman tweeted about his youthful, romantic film which featured a Telugu- speaking hero Betha Sudhakar making a splash too with his first film in Tamil. The film went on to run for a record 365 days in all, earning the nickname 'Rail Radhika' for the heroine as the train forms an important role in the movie.

Complimenting his heroine for the non-stop progress she has made as a cine star and entrepreneur, the director wished her all the best in the years ahead. To which, Radhika replied that 'in this male-dominated world, none bothers about the achievements of its women. Hence, your compliments are very special to me as usual'.

With a mixed linguistic background, Radhika made quite an impact as a top actress, co-starring with the big names in southern cinema all across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada in over 300 films for over four decades. She has been a senior to successors like Khushbu Sundar for her being an inspiration in balancing politics and cinema over the last two decades and more. Radhika is still seen in special appearances in big-budget films.