Bhumi Pednekar is gearing up for the release of his upcoming film Badhaai Do. The film sees her and Rajkummar Rao play homosexual characters who get into a marriage of convenience to get rid of their nagging family members. Bhumi, who is playing a queer role for the first time said she draws a lot of inspiration from real life. “Since I was very young, I had queer friends. I’ve had friends who had to go through a lot of turmoil, coming out to their family, many have still not come out. I drew a lot from real-life people in my life. Also, it was such a well-researched film that most of it was in the writing. It is a very, very well etched, sensitively written beautiful character and a beautiful film. And I’m glad that came my way,” said the actress in a conversation with Bollywood Hungama.
Badhaai Do deals with a sensitive subject in a light-hearted manner. Bhumi, was never once skeptical or had second thoughts while agreeing to essay the role of Suman in the film despite the sensitive nature of the subject. “There were many characters from the queer community that came my way in the past, but none of them were written with as much sensitivity as this one is. We have tried to make this film as a family. We strongly believe that if you don’t have a conversation as such that really makes your family uncomfortable, there’s no way you can normalize things. It is a certain generation, our aunts, our uncles, that need to understand that homosexuality is not abnormal,” she said.
“For me, somebody’s sexual preference is genuinely their own business. It does not define who they are, it does not define their worth or their value. And the fact and what’s really also important for me is that through the film you go through a barrage of emotions. You are laughing, you’re smiling, you’re crying, and yet you walk out so fulfilled and with such a wholesome experience. I feel like Badhaai Do is just the right kind of film that’s required to bring out stories from the community,” she added.
The film has been directed by Harshavardhan Kulkarni who had said that they had gone through multiple rounds of re-writing and consulted experts before finalisng the script. Talking about working with a meticulous director like Harshvardhan, Bhumi shared, “It’s so comforting and I felt so secure as an actor. The film has been written with a very unbiased lens. It has been written with a lot of responsibility. He’s an actor’s director, he really pushes you. I feel like whatever I’ve done in the film comes from the confidence that he had in me that I could pull it off the way he wanted. And it’s been an experience of a lifetime, honestly.”
This is also the first time that Bhumi will be seen sharing screen space with Rajkummar Rao who plays a police officer in the film. Talking about working with him, she said, “Amazing! We’ve become such good friends. He’s my buddy, he is my brother, he’s my sister. He is such a wonderful co-star to work with. Badhaai Do is definitely more special because I’ve met Harsh and Raj and the team. I’ve made friends for a lifetime.”
The trailer of the film also has several humorous elements and situations that evoke laughter. However, Bhumi is confident that the comedy in the film will not impact the message and the subject of the film. “Comedy is tragedy, it just depends on the route of comedy you take. While you are laughing, you can learn a lot of things. And I really feel like, Badhaai Do is the right narrative,” she concluded.