Fertile Ground

Bhumi Pednekar’s Rise in Bollywood Comes on the Back of Talent, Hard Work and a Dash of Luck.

- Suhani Singh

IN the first four years of Bhumi Pednekar’s cinematic career, every aspiring actor wanted to impress her. She was, after all, an assistant to Yash Raj Films’ casting director, Shanoo Sharma. Back then directing, and not acting, was on Pednekar’s mind. It all changed when Sharma walked in on an audition and saw that her assistant had acting chops too. “You’re not supposed to direct, is what I told her,” says Sharma. “You need to start losing weight and work on yourself. Then I asked her to stop losing weight.” Having selected over 800 actors for roles, you’d think Pednekar would have aced her first audition. “You are so nervous that you overdo everything,” she admits. “I only understood what being an actor is when I myself auditioned.”

When filmmaker Sharat Katariya was looking for an actor to play Sandhya, the overweight, assertive leading lady of Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015), he chose Pednekar four months after she tested for the role. Her assured performance and her commitment to her art—she put on 20 kilos for the role—in the National Award-winning film was proof of her talent. It’s no surprise then that she was offered roles (without auditioning) in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (releasing August 11) and Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (September 1).