“My life has been a journey of survival”, says Bhumi Pednekar

Bollywood star Bhumi Pednekar is one of the most exciting young talents to have graced the big screen recently. In her five year cinematic journey, Bhumi has entertained us with breath-taking performances in films like Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Saand Ki Aankh, Sonchiriya, Pati, Patni Aur Woh, Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitaare. The young artiste reveals why she decided to pursue a career in acting and her journey thereafter!

Bhumi says, “It’s been 5 years and it still feels like a dream! I am not an accidental actor and I say this time and again. This is something that I really wanted to do and I have worked really hard to be here. I am born and brought up in Bombay so that definitely helped because just having some sort of a support system in the city which is the city of our Hindi film industry, it makes your journey slightly easy. However, because I am not from a traditional film family or I really didn’t have any contacts or in, I was very confused at first about how to go about it.”

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The versatile actress adds, “First, I was figuring how do I convince my parents that I want to be an actor. I mustered courage to speak to my parents about it. They weren’t very happy and I think they were being protective of me. So, I decided to join film school and the fee was expensive so I took a loan.”

Bhumi is referred as one of the best actresses of our generation today but she narrates how she failed in film school and it really shook her. She says, “I failed film school not because I wasn’t a good actor but because I wasn’t disciplined enough and that was the biggest jhatka. I was like I have screwed up and I had this 13 lakh loan on my head and it’s a huge amount. I started looking for a job for survival and to protect my dream to act. Again, my parents were completely against it because they wanted me to go back to studying but I told them that I’ll get a degree from an open school.”

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The talented actress then joined YRF as a casting assistant. She adds, “When I was doing casting, my intent wasn’t to gain information about if I want to be an actor. I was just observing as a film making student. I was like I want to be a part of this world and whatever door opens wherever I go in. In fact, that is how my life has been – it is a journey of survival. I have only tried to survive through the years till Dum Laga Ke Haisha. I was lucky that I kept getting these opportunities – things kept happening one after the other and primarily from YRF.”