Bhumi Pednekar


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Bhumi Pednekar (born 18 July 1989) is an Indian film actress. After working as an assistant casting director for several years for Yash Raj Films, she signed a three-film deal with the company as an actress and made her film debut with a leading role in the 2015 romantic comedy Dum Laga Ke Haisha–which won her a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. In 2017, she played a headstrong woman in rural India in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, which proved to be a major commercial success.

Bhumi Pednekar

Pednekar in 2017

Born18 July 1989 (age 35)[1][2]
NationalityIndian
OccupationActress
Years active2015–present

Early life

Pednekar was born to a Konkan father from Goa, her father is from a Goan village called Pedne thats how she got the name and a Haryanvi mother. She did her schooling from Arya Vidya Mandir in Juhu Mumbai.[3] She was an assistant casting director for six years[4] under Shanoo Sharma of Yash Raj Films before venturing into acting.[3]

Rise To prominence in Bollywood

Pednekar played the role of Sandhya Varma, a chubby girl in her debut film, Dum Laga Ke Haisha in 2015. As reported by Daily News and Analysis, she was quoted as saying that in order to play the role of an overweight woman, she gained close to 12 kg despite being overweight before the shooting had commenced.[5] It is also reported that Pednekar has signed a three-film deal with Yash Raj Films.[6][5] Rajeev Masand wrote in his reviews: " [Pednekar] steals the film with an assured turn, effortlessly making you care for Sandhya, without ever reducing her to a slobbering, self-pitying caricature."[7] After filming, she began losing weight and shared methods and tips of the process through her social media.[4] She lost significant weight before the release of the film.[6] The film proved to be a sleeper hit and Pednekar won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for the film.[8][9]

That same year, Pednekar appeared in Y-Films's mini web-series Man's world. The four-part series about gender inequality premiered on YouTube on 29 September 2015.[10] It also featured the actresses Parineeti Chopra, Kalki Koechlin and Richa Chadda.[11]

After a two year absence from the screen, Pednekar appeared in Shree Narayan Singh's directorial debut Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017), alongside Akshay Kumar, which tells the story of a young woman in rural India who insists on the eradication of open defecation.[12] Despite disliking the picture, Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV praised Pednekar for "flesh[ing] out a refreshingly relatable college topper who becomes the principal catalyst for a mini-revolution".[13] The film proved to be a major commercial success.[14]

Pednekar will be seen next in Shubh Mangal Savdhan, a romantic comedy, opposite Ayushmann Khurrana, to be produced by Anand L. Rai and directed by R.S. Prasanna.[15][16]

Filmography

† Denotes films that have not yet been released

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ^ Sangghvi, Bhavikk. "Movie prediction for ´Dum Laga Ke Haisha'". Planet Bollywood. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  2. ^ a b "15 women of courage share their inspiring stories". India Today. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  3. ^ a b Presenting Dum Laga Ke Haisha’s leading lady Bhumi Pednekar, the slim-fit version, Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  4. ^ a b ‛Lose it’ like Bhumi Pednekar!, Bhumi Pednekar has shared "the fun little things" she did to lose weight.
  5. ^ a b My Cinderella Story: Bhumi Pednekar, DNAIndia 7 March 2015.
  6. ^ a b 7 things you don't know about Bhumi Pednekar. 6th is shocking, India Today.
  7. ^ "Think Big!". RajeevMasand.com. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Filmfare Awards 2016: Ranveer Singh bags Best Actor in leading role for Bajirao Mastani". ibtimes. 16 January 2016.
  9. ^ Singh, Prashant (17 March 2015). "NH10 and more: Sleeper hits, a new trend in Bollywood". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  10. ^ Basu, Nilanjana (27 September 2015). "Parineeti, Kalki, Richa Show it is So Not a Man's World in Trailer". NDTV. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  11. ^ "Bollywood celebs bat for gender equality with 'Man's World'". The Indian Express. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. ^ Iyer, Meena (11 August 2017). "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha Movie Review". Times of India. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  13. ^ Saibal, Chaterjee (11 August 2017). "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha Movie Review - Akshay Kumar's Film Stinks To High Heaven". NDTV. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  14. ^ "Toilet Ek Prem Katha Emerges a Blockbuster". Box Office India. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  15. ^ Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar in Anand L Rai's Next Film, Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  16. ^ "Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi begin Shubh Mangal Saavdhan Trailer released". 5 August 2017.