Bhumi Pednekar opened the passage to her heart and mind, we are surely as excited as her fans

Bhumi Pednekar, a name that is etched to our memories with her outstanding performances and out of the box characters. From starting off her career as Sandhya in Dum Laga Ke Haisha to her recent Gauri Waghmare in Govinda Naam Mera, the actress’ stunning roles have been the flagbearer of her talent.

Recently, we spoke to the Bollywood star to unfold the mystery of what the secret is to her success, and what the real Bhumi Pednekar is like — and to be honest, she opened the passage to her heart and mind..

Masala: How do you beat the lows on a day-to-day basis?

Bhumi Pednekar: “I have come to realize that every day is not going to be good, everyday is not going to be bad. If there are good days, there will be bad days. On bad days, I keep telling myself, ‘Bhumi, this too will pass, It’s okay!’ I just go through the experience, because not battling the experience and pretending everything is okay don’t always work.

We need to respect how we are feeling. And if we have somebody to talk to, a support system to go to, it’s great! And for good days… good days are good days you know (laughing…) Every night I sleep with a lot of gratitude, thanking the universe for all the opportunities that is thrown all towards me. I do that on my bad days as well to be honest. But I sleep motivated to work harder the next day.”

Masala: What does your survival kit consist of?

Bhumi Pednekar: “I think my survival kit could consist of my mom, my sister, and my pets. I don’t think I can survive without my house unit. But if I think of utility and any superficial thing that I cannot live without— it would be my menstrual cup. But if I have my phone with me in a survival kit, it would be great! Also, it would be tons of water, a pair of shoes, and maybe also a lip balm.”

Masala: What lessons did you pick up along the way of working in the film industry?

Bhumi Pednekar: “I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned over time is not to be too hard on yourself, because the world we live in is already so hard! And also, I keep myself in check that if there is success, failure comes hand-in-hand. I realised, it is only these experiences when you realise that it’s okay, you still need to walk with your head held high and learn from your mistakes and move on.

Another lesson that I learnt over time is that it is very important to experience life when you get into the rut of doing things, especially for the artists, we can’t turn our work into a 9-5 job. You need to feel fulfilled as an individual, you need to keep enriching your life, you need to be a constant learner, a constant student of life.

Travel, eat food, take time off, love yourself, concentrate on your mental health, concentrate on your physical health, date people, have heartbreak, live life as much as you can, only then you’ll be able to translate your art into a magical piece.”

Masala: Is it possible to form true friendships in the film industry?

Bhumi Pednekar: “Oh absolutely, over time, I’ve created special bonds with the people that I’ve worked with, be it directors, producers, co-actors, technicians. It is impossible to not create a bond with them. You feel so much emotionally when everybody in that film set, unanimously, is trying to make that product. There’s so much energy that you connect on so many various levels.”

Masala: According to you, can two competitor actresses be close friends?

Bhumi Pednekar: “Absolutely, I don’t think friendship depends on gender, it’s between two individuals and whether they get along or not. I have been very fortunate to have an opportunity to work in many many films where my co-actors were women. I’ve also had an opportunity to work with two phenomenal female directors, to be produced by many many women producers, to work with co-actors, in a set where male and female ratio were quite equal.

But to be specific to your question — Taapsee, whom I have a sisterhood with, be it Ananya, whom I have a nice friendship with, Rakul, who became a very close friend of mine, we’re also in the process of doing a film together. Kiara, we just did Govinda Naam Mera together, Konkona, whom I love so much as an actor and working with her has been a great experience for me.”

Masala: Would you call yourself a romantic? What’s your idea of love…

Bhumi Pednekar: “I am a hardcore romantic. I love big gestures, I love the small things that your partner does for you in a relationship, or what you do for your partner. Everything that is related to romance, be it Mills & Boon, or a classic romantic novel, that gives you all the feelings. I am also a cancerian, so I think that characteristic goes with my sun sign.”

“For me, love is mutual respect, it is admiration, it is trying to uplift each other, it is being a support system on each other’s bad days, celebrating each other’s success, achievements together. Love is comfort, being able to sit next to someone, and sleep next to somebody and snore and not even care! Love is about two individuals becoming one. Clearly, what I have said made me realise that I am a hardcore romantic.”

Masala: Three relationship advice for young girls who idolize your work…

Bhumi Pednekar: “Three points I would like to stress on for young girls is that— never give up on your dreams and aspirations for a partner or whatever, because women are expected to do that and we have tendencies to do that and we often console us saying, oh it’s okay, I’m young, I can do it later, then comes a child, and then you lost a lot of time, and it’s not fair! You’ll not be a happy person if you do that.

Another piece of advice that I’ve always practised is to never take any kind of disrespect in a relationship, because if it has happened once, it’s gonna happen again, and if it happens again, it’s never going to stop. Trust me, the pain is going to be very very short lived compared to whatever you have to go through your entire life.

And the advice number three would be, babe you have to love yourself! There will be a lot of opinions around you on what’s wrong, what’s right. But irrespective of that, love yourself, because only if you love yourself, will you give somebody an equal chance to love you! So, pamper yourself, give yourself a treat, and all the love you deserve and see the abundance that is going to come in your life.”

Masala: What advice would you give to your younger self?

Bhumi Pednekar: “My advice for my younger self would be— life is going to be good, keep at it, don’t take things so hard on yourself and also learn to enjoy life a little. It’s very important to enjoy life a little, you’re too hard on yourself.”

Masala: What do you count as your best achievements?

Bhumi Pednekar: “I would segregate the question a bit. My best achievement as an individual is the fact what I did with Abhyudaya ashram. I am extremely proud about the fact how I became a part of the life of the kids there and helped them to transform it in whatever way. I am like their mother, and it fills my heart when I see them progress. And in films, I think my best achievement would be the fact how I have created a unique space for myself.”

Masala: What is the real Bhumi like? What has changed and remained unchanged about you…

Bhumi Pednekar: “Real Bhumi is lazy (laughing…) She loves food, she loves travel, she loves everything luxury, she loves glamour, she loves beauty, she loves makeup, she also loves herself a loooot!

Real Bhumi is also extremely empathetic. I try to give back as much as possible. And I have been fortunate when I didn’t have the resources I did as much as I could through physical action. Today, when I have that, it’s a mix of both.

And what’s changed, not much, maybe just the cost of my car, the size of my home. But apart from that, the people who have been there with me from the start, like from school friends, college friends, my family, the set of people who were with me earlier, are still with me.”

“If I give it a thought I feel like I have become a lot more peaceful, empathetic, and I feel success has made me a humbler person as all my stories and all the women I’ve portrayed have something to say and through those characters I’ve learned so many things that I feel made me better person who I was before becoming an actor.”

Masala: Your sex appeal lies in…

Bhumi Pednekar: “I think my sex appeal lies in my talent. I feel my talent is the only thing that nobody can snatch away from me. So clearly, I am going to be sexy throughout my life.”

Masala: What about ‘Govinda Naam Mera’ amazed you and motivated you to take up the role?

Bhumi Pednekar: “So many things.. Just the script to start off with. It is a comedy thriller which was completely outlandish with exaggerated characters doing the most bizarre things.

I was very excited to play a Marathi mulgi, who is set in Bombay. It was fun for me to become a character that also belongs to my culture. Not many people know this, but I’m not very fluent with Marathi. I understand it, but I can’t speak it very well. For my character, I did it as much as I could. But the accent is what I had to work really hard on, and also it was kind of new for me to do an out of the box, a comedy film. And so far, it worked well.”

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