My life has been a journey of survival, says actor Bhumi Pednekar. In her five year cinematic journey, Bhumi has entertained us with some great 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. She reveals why she decided to pursue a career in acting and her journey thereafter!
Bhumi says, “It’s been five 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 Mumbai so that definitely helped because just having some sort of a support system in the city, it makes your journey slightly easy. However, because I am not from a traditional film family or I really didn’t have any contacts, I was very confused at first about how to go about it.”
She 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.”
She narrates how she failed in the film school, which really shook her. She shares, “I failed in 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. It was 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.”
She 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, I go in. In fact, that is how my life has been — 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.”
