Bhumi Pednekar
Bhumi Pednekar (born 18 July 1989) is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi films. After working as an assistant casting director at Yash Raj Films for six years, she made her film debut as an overweight bride in the company’s romantic comedy Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015), which earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.
Pednekar rose to prominence by playing headstrong small-town women in the comedy-dramas Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017), Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (2017), Bala (2019) and Pati Patni Aur Woh (2019), and the crime drama Sonchiriya (2019).[1] For her portrayal of the septuagenarian sharpshooter Chandro Tomar in Saand Ki Aankh (2019), she shared the Filmfare Award for Best Actress (Critics), along with Taapsee Pannu.[2]
Pednekar was born in Bombay (now Mumbai) on 18 July 1989.[3][4] She is of Marathi and Haryanvi descent; her father, Satish, was a former home and labour minister of Maharashtra, and her mother, Sumitra, worked as an anti-tobacco activist after the death of her husband from oral cancer.[5][6] She did her schooling from Arya Vidya Mandir in Juhu.[7] At the age of 15, her parents took out a study loan for her to study acting at Whistling Woods International, but she was expelled due to poor attendance.[5] Within a year and a half, she joined Yash Raj Films as an assistant film director, and paid off the loan.[5] She went on to work with the company for six years under Shanoo Sharma.[7][8]
Pednekar made her acting debut with Sharat Katariya’s romantic comedy Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015). Starring opposite Ayushmann Khurrana, she featured as Sandhya, an overweight woman who marries Khurrana’s character. In preparation for the role, Pednekar gained close to 12 kg, despite being slightly overweight before filming commenced.[9] Rajeev Masand reviewed, “Pednekar steals the film with an assured turn, effortlessly making you care for Sandhya, without ever reducing her to a slobbering, self-pitying caricature.”[10] After filming, she began losing weight and shared methods and tips of the process through her social media.[8] She lost significant weight before the release of the film.[11] The film proved to be a sleeper hit, and Pednekar won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.[12][13]
