1-Non-Conventional Debut
Whenever an actress enters the Hindi film industry, they want to star in the perfect movie which shows everyone their glamour avatar. They want to be starred in movies with beautiful songs and dance routines with the perfect hair, makeup and clothes. However, Bhumi didn’t fall prey to the formula films. She debuted with YRF’s ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ in which she plays a character for which she needed to gain almost 20 kilograms. Bhumi gave in without a second thought. She added those kilos and prepped for her role perfectly. This worked perfectly in her favour, she showed her nuanced acting skills and capturing persona on screen and become one of the best debutants in our industry. In spite of debuting with a risky film, Bhumi showed us she entered the industry to break the stereotypes.
2- Staying true to heartland India
In all her 8 films, Bhumi has been very true to her characters. Though she has been born and brought up in Mumbai and studied in an elite school, she has cracked the code of a small-town girl. She has played them to perfection in movies like ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’, ‘Sonchiriya’ and ‘Shubh Mangal Saavdhan’
3- Changing her skin tone completely for ‘Bala’
In 2019, Bhumi played a character called Latika Trivedi who is a lawyer in a small town. She has been laughed at since she was very young because of her dark skin tone. For this film, Bhumi darkened her skin with makeup and had no vanity about it. In a country like India where dark is considered dirty and in an industry like entertainment where celebrities promote skin whitening products, Bhumi decided to break the norm once again.
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4- Playing a woman double her age in ‘Saand Ki Aankh’
Once again in 2019, Bhumi played the superdadi Chandro Tomar who started shooting in her 60s. Most actresses in India shy away from ageing on and off camera but Bhumi Pednekar and Tapsee Pannu didn’t shy away from it. Bhumi wore her prosthetics and aced her character. Reportedly many other actors turned down the role but Bhumi played it with great skills.
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5- Bagging big films in spite of being an outsider
Bhumi has big films coming up next. She is in Karan Johar’s next big film, ‘Takht’ and she has a film based entirely on her called ‘Durgavati.’ She is also in Badhai Ho’s sequel with Rajkumar Rao. She has been able to make a niche and is trying to balance both commercial and content-driven films.
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Here’s wishing Bhumi Pednekar a safe and happy 31st birthday.
