Uptown Girl

If Betty Cooper ever came to life, Bhumi Pednekar would make the right cut. We find out what lies behind her curious career choices and that infectious smile.

- Neena Haridas

There is nothing accidental about Bhumi Pednekar nor is her story about chasing Bollywood stardom by fighting a family that stood between her ultimate dream. No, she didn’t have to elope from a small town with 500 bucks in her pocket to navigate through the dirty lanes of Indian cinema. Neither did she have any godfather or a film background that paved the way with the comforts of being a star-child. So, don’t expect an average Cinderella fairytale that will bring you to happy tears.

That is what makes Bhumi so refreshingly different. A regular Bombay girl who lived with her well-educated parents and younger sister, with all the comforts that a normal home brings with it. The family loved eating out, going on holidays, watching movies together. She grew up with a happy childhood, and partied and went out with friends like any other teenager. Whenever she wanted something her father would say, “If you get good scores in school, you will get what you want.” Sometimes she did, at times not. It was not because “he couldn’t afford it,” says Bhumi.

“It was my dad’s way of telling me that I must earn what I get so that I don’t take what comes my way for granted. It made me responsible for my actions and demands. And happy that I earned it,” she says. And that lesson has stood her good. So, when she told her parents (even before turning 16), that she wanted to work in Bollywood, there were no arguments at the dinner table or lectures on the perils that lie ahead. She was told to follow her path as she pleased. And she did.

“Frankly, to be part of the cinema world was my only ambition. I had taken that decision longer than I can recall. I knew that I was not the kind who will be happy with what one might call a regular job. I was focused right from the word go.”