Bhumi Pedenekar shoots for Badhaai in same house where her first movie was shot

Bhumi is overwhelmed at the coincidence of shooting in the same location as her first film

The actress had catapulted to stardom with her debut film in 2015, Dum Laga Ke Haisha (DLKH). In the film, she’d played the role of an overweight girl who stands up for her dignity and rights. In fact, Bhumi herself credits her debut, which was directed by Sharat Katariya, to be a milestone moment that paved her path to glory.

Recently shooting in Rishikesh for her next, Badhaai Do, the actress seemed extremely overwhelmed given that she was shooting in the same house used in her debut film.

The actress says, “DLKH is truly a milestone moment of my life and I can’t imagine how my career would have shaped up without it. I was extremely fortunate to get this film and everyone knows how hard I worked to deliver this role. It was such a coincidence that I shot at the same location again for Badhaai Do—the house, which was my first-ever location for my first film. I was so nostalgic. What were t h e chances that after six years I would be at the same place?” Adding that she was super nostalgic about being at the very location where she’d shot DLKH, Bhumi adds that she was actually standing at the same spot in which she’d given her first shot ever as an actor. “I remember we had done about eleven takes for this and I was so nervous. That is where Bhumi the actor was born,” she points out.

Bhumi feels she told the industry loudly that she meant business as an actress with her first film. She says, “DLKH gave me an identity as an actress and enabled me to tell the world that I was different, I was hungry, I was ambitious, and that I would take incredible risks to carve my legacy in the Hindi film industry. Today, when I look back at my debut, I’m filled with gratitude towards everyone who ensured that I do my best.”

The actress goes on to credit the entire team of her first film for inculcating confidence in her as an artiste. She says, “Right from Shanoo, Adi sir, Maneesh Sharma, Sharat Katariya and even Ayushmann, everyone believed in me, and that gave me so much confidence to go out there and present myself as an artiste. DLKH is and will always be a film from which I harness confidence to take on more risks, to experiment constantly and present myself new on-screen every single time.”

DLKH gave me an identity as an actress and enabled me to tell the world that I was different, I was hungry, I was ambitious, and that I would take incredible risks to carve my legacy in the Hindi film industry. —Bhumi Pednekar, actor