Bhumi Pednekar always surprises the audience with her bold film choices,
taking up roles that would require her to put on a different avatar. A city
girl, she made her film debut with ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’, where she played an
educated overweight girl from Haridwar, and in her second film, ‘Toilet: Ek
Prem Katha’, she played Jaya, a woman who files for divorce, citing the
unavailability of a toilet in her husband’s house as the reason.
“My films have really been loved. I have not faced any backlash
for any of my movies. All my films have done well commercially as well. I have
had amazing people who I really look up to like Vidya Balan, who after watching
‘Shubh Mangal Savdhan’, told me that it was one of the best performances she
had seen; I was so blown away. People, especially within the film fraternity,
always had amazing things to say and I have a lot of gratitude for that. If
your film is good, you are automatically appreciated,” says Bhumi, whose third
film was ‘Shubh Mangal Savdhan’, also starring Ayushmann Khurana.
Bhumi joined Whistling Woods Film Academy but as things did not
work out, the next best thing to happen to her was joining Yash Raj Films at
the age of 17 years. “When I joined Yash Raj Films, I had no agenda. I just
joined because I was somebody who loved cinema and I wanted to be doing films.
I didn’t know in what aspects of film making, in what capacity, I just wanted
to be a part of this world. I did so many different odd jobs for them; I’ve
worked with casting, creative writing, post production. Yash Raj was my film
school. It was destiny that ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ came my way. I feel I showed
patience and I did my duties and job without having any ulterior motives,” she
adds.
However, she was sure to make it in the films. “I knew 100 per
cent that I would be in a movie. That was the confidence and faith I had in
myself that I am going to be a working actor. I didn’t know whether it would be
with Yash Raj Films. I was not there because I wanted to do a film but I knew
this is a phenomenon that would happen.”
Her work experience with Yash Raj gave her a better
understanding of the workings of a film, “The more you experience life, the
more it enriches your craft and I was lucky that I got to experience it to the
t because I come from a background where working is not a necessity but a
choice. I am very proud that I took this choice and it has been one of the best
decisions I have made. The kind of struggle I went though really gave a
perspective about life,” she explains.
Bhumi’s father is from Pernem, Goa while her mother is from
Haryana. “I come to Goa very often, nearly 4-5 times in a year and sometimes I
am here every two months. Everybody loves the state and Goa is the only holiday
destination we really have in India. Your roots are your roots. I never lived
in Goa because four generations ago, my family moved to Mumbai, but I have my
extended family and cousins living in Goa. They are not my immediate family but
we still have our family house in Pernem and I think the roots never leave you.
The food in my house is still Goan. Chicken Xacuti is out and out my favourite
dish,” she says.
Speaking
about her next film, she says, “The only film I can speak about right now is
‘Chambal’, which I will start shooting in the next few weeks. It is being
directed by Abhishek Chaubey. He is one of the brightest minds in our country
right now and my co-star is Sushant Singh Rajput in the film.” Abhishek is
known for films like ‘Ishqiya’ and ‘Udta Punjab’.
