Not scared of being stereotyped as a small-town girl in films : Bhumi Pednekar

In her debut film Dum Laga Ke Haisha, actress Bhumi Pednekar played a teacher based in a small town in Haridwar. She followed it up with films like Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan and the recently released Badhaai Do, where she was seen playing a strong-spirited small-town girl. While these performances have fetched her a lot of appreciation, she has also been stereotyped for being stereotyped as a small town girl.

On being questioned about this, she replied “I don’t think representing 70% of the country can stereotype me. I want to represent them (small town girls) and would love to be a part of stories that represent them.”

On being asked what scares her, she said “What I’m wary about is repetition but that hasn’t happened so far. I’ve never had anyone telling me, ‘I’ve seen you do this before’.”

“Even if I’m playing a girl who’s from the same milieu in different films, I make sure that the ways they lead their lives are very different, and that requires a lot of unlearning about heartland India.” she said.

On being asked, if she feels that she’s getting roles which are right for her, she said “I always had films that fit into the kind of cinema that I want to do. And a lot of credit for that goes to my first film because it set the tone and path of what I want to do.”

Talking about what has changed in her seven years of career, she said “It’s been a few years that I’ve been acting but I feel like I’ve started now because there so many things about myself that I’ve begun exploring.”