Seema ma’am is phenomenal: Bhumi

Actor Bhumi Pednekar says that she was real lucky to have been trained by Seema Pahwa

What’s common to actors Bhumi Pednekar and Ayushmann Khurrana? For starters, they have starred opposite each other in Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015) and Shubh Mangal Saavdhan. But apart from that, they have something else in common, too. In both of these hit films, veteran actor Seema Pahwa played Bhumi’s mother and Ayushmann’s mother-in-law. In fact, Bhumi feels that working with Pahwa has “helped her a lot” in her initial years of acting.

“Yes, I was lucky that before Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Seema Pahwa ma’am trained me. I spent two-and-a-half months with her and I think that really changed my life, because she is phenomenal. If you see her performances in Dum Laga Ke Haisha and even Bareilly Ki Barfi, they are completely different. It’s not as if I am comparing myself to her but my knowledge [of acting nuances] comes from her,” says Bhumi.

The actor, who had another big success this year with Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, feels that one of the reasons she got a break in cinema — her first film was made by Aditya Chopra’s production house — is because “Adi sir had heard my cues (to actors at the time of auditions) for two years (laughs)”. Bhumi worked as an assistant casting director at the production house before making her debut as an actor.

Although, till date, Bhumi has played girl-next-door roles in all her films, she won’t indulge in skin show on screen “just for the sake of it”. She says, “I think those days are gone when there used to be needless skin show. In real life, if I’m travelling with my friends, I even wear a bikini. At the same time, I also love to wear Indian attire and I even sport bindis. I feel every modern-day girl is like that.”

PHOTO: AFP Actor Bhumi Pednekar has worked with veteran Seema Pahwa in two films and says she learnt a lot from that

PHOTO: PRATHAM GOKHALE/HT Actor Seema Pahwa